Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1
Page 70
⅔ cup granulated sugar
3 Tb butter
Optional: ½ tsp cinnamon, and/or the grated rind of 1 lemon or orange
Cut the rest of the apples into rough slices. You should have about 8 cups. Place in the pan and cook, covered, over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Then beat in the ingredients at the left. Raise heat and boil, stirring, until applesauce is thick enough to hold in a mass in the spoon.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spread the applesauce in the pastry shell. Cover with a neat, closely overlapping layer of sliced apples arranged in a spiral, concentric circles, or as illustrated at the beginning of this recipe.
A cake rack or serving dish ½ cup apricot glaze
2 cups heavy cream, or crème fraîche
Bake in upper third of preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the sliced apples have browned lightly and are tender. Slide tart onto the rack or serving dish and spoon or paint over it a light coating of apricot glaze. Serve warm or cold, and pass with it, if you wish, a bowl of cream.
TARTE NORMANDE AUX POMMES
[Custard Apple Tart—to be served hot]
While this creamy apple tart may be eaten cold, it is at its best when hot or warm. It can be reheated.
For 6 people
An 8-inch partially baked pastry shell placed on a baking sheet
Use the sweet short paste for the pastry shell. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1 lb. firm cooking apples (Golden Delicious)
⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
Quarter, core, and peel the apples. Cut into ⅛-inch lengthwise slices. You should have about 3 cups. Toss them in a bowl with the sugar and cinnamon, then arrange them in the pastry shell. Bake in upper third of preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until they start to color and are almost tender. Remove from oven and let cool while preparing the custard.
1 egg
⅓ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup sifted flour
½ cup whipping cream
3 Tb Calvados (apple brandy) or cognac
Beat the egg and sugar together in a mixing bowl until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back on itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon. Beat in the flour, then the cream, and finally the brandy. Pour the mixture over the apples. It should come almost to the top of the pastry shell.
Powdered sugar in a shaker
Return to oven for 10 minutes, or until cream begins to puff. Sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar and return to oven for 15 to 20 minutes more. Tart is done when top has browned and a needle or knife plunged into the custard comes out clean.
A cake rack or serving dish
Slide tart onto a rack or serving dish, and keep warm until ready to serve.
VARIATION
Tarte aux Poires
[Pear Tart]
Using the same method and proportions, substitute sliced pears for the apples.
LA TARTE DES DEMOISELLES TATIN
[Upside-down Apple Tart—hot or cold]
This is an especially good tart if your apples are full of flavor. It is cooked in a baking dish with the pastry on top of the apples. When done, it is reversed onto a serving dish and presents a lovely mass of caramelized apples.
For 8 people
4 lbs. firm cooking apples (Golden Delicious)
⅓ cup granulated sugar
Optional: 1 tsp cinnamon
Quarter, core, and peel the apples. Cut into lengthwise slices ⅛ inch thick. Toss in a bowl with the sugar and optional cinnamon. You should have about 10 cups of apples.
2 Tb softened butter
A baking dish 9 to 10 inches in diameter and 2 to 2½ inches deep (pyrex is practical, as you can see when the tart is done)
½ cup granulated sugar
6 Tb melted butter
Butter the baking dish heavily especially on the bottom. Sprinkle half the sugar in the bottom of the dish and arrange a third of the apples over it. Sprinkle with a third of the melted butter. Repeat with a layer of half the remaining apples and butter, then a final layer of apples and butter. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the apples.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Chilled sweet short paste (proportions for 1 cup of flour)
Roll out the pastry to a thickness of ⅛ inch. Cut it into a circle the size of the top of the baking dish. Place it over the apples, allowing its edges to fall against the inside edge of the dish. Cut 4 or 5 holes about ⅛ inch long in the top of the pastry to allow cooking steam to escape.
Aluminum foil, if needed
Bake in lower third of preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes. If pastry begins to brown too much, cover lightly with aluminum foil. Tart is done when you tilt the dish and see that a thick brown syrup rather than a light liquid exudes from the apples between the crust and the edge of the dish.
A fireproof serving dish
Powdered sugar, if needed
Immediately unmold the tart onto serving dish. If the apples are not a light caramel brown, which is often the case, sprinkle rather heavily with powdered sugar and run under a moderately hot broiler for several minutes to caramelize the surface lightly.
2 cups heavy cream, or crème fraîche
Keep warm until serving time, and accompany with a bowl of cream. (May also be served cold, but we prefer it warm.)
TARTE AUX ABRICOTS
TARTE AUX PÈCHES
[Fresh Apricot or Peach Tart—warm or cold]
For 6 people
An 8-inch partially cooked pastry shell placed on a baking sheet
For the shell use the sweet short paste.
8 to 10 fresh apricots or 3 or 4 freestone peaches
Boiling water
Drop the fruit in boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds. Peel, halve, and remove pits. Slice the fruit if you wish.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
⅔ cup granulated sugar
2 Tb butter cut into pea-sized dots
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar in the bottom of the pastry shell. If the fruit is sliced, arrange it over the sugar in a closely overlapping layer of concentric circles. If it is halved, place the halves, domed side up, closely together in the shell. Spread on the rest of the sugar. Dot with the butter.
Bake in middle level of preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until fruit has colored lightly and the juices have become syrupy.
¼ cup slivered almonds
½ cup apricot glaze
Slip the tart onto a rack. Decorate with the slivered almonds, and spread on the apricot glaze.
Serve warm or cold.
VARIATIONS
Use the same system with plums, pears, or canned fruit. A nice combination is slices of canned apricots alternating with slices of banana.
Tartes Flambées Any of these tarts may be flamed with liqueurs as they are brought to the table, as described in the recipe for cherry tart.
TARTE AUX FRAISES
[Fresh Strawberry Tart—cold]
Fresh fruit tarts are easy to make, pretty to look at, and refreshing to eat. They consist of a fully baked tart shell which is lined with liqueur-flavored crème pâtissière (custard filling). The fresh fruit is arranged over the filling and topped with apricot or red currant glaze. Other suggestions follow this recipe.
Fresh Strawberry Tart
For 8 people
A 10-inch fully baked pastry shell
Use either the sweet short paste, or the sugar crust for your tart shell.
1 quart large, ripe, handsome strawberries
A cake rack
Hull the strawberries. If necessary to wash them, do so very quickly, and drain them on a rack.
1 cup red currant jelly
2 Tb granulated sugar
2 Tb kirsch or cognac
Optional: a candy thermometer A pastry brush
Boil the currant jelly, sugar, and liqueur in a small saucepan until last drops from spoon are sticky (228 degrees). Paint
the interior of the shell with a thin coating of the glaze and allow to set for 5 minutes. This will give the shell a light waterproofing. Reserve the rest of the glaze for the strawberries. Warm it briefly if it has hardened.
1½ to 2 cups chilled crème pâtissière (custard filling) with 2 to 3 Tb kirsch or cognac
Spread a ½-inch layer of crème pâtissière in the bottom of the pastry shell.
Arrange a design of strawberries over the cream. Put the largest strawberry in the center, and graduate down in size, placing the berries closely together, their stem ends in the cream. Spoon or paint over them a thin coating of the glaze, and the tart is ready to serve. () Because of the glazed waterproofing in the bottom of the shell, the filled tart may wait an hour or so.
VARIATIONS
Using the same method as that for the preceding strawberry tart, substitute a layer of peeled and seeded grapes, sliced bananas, raspberries, or poached or canned peaches, apricots, plums, or pears. Follow the above illustration for design.
Mixed Fruit Tart
TARTE AUX POIRES À LA BOURDALOUE
[Pear and Almond Tart—tepid or cold]
For 6 people
1½ to 2 lbs. firm, ripe, unblemished pears
2 cups cold water and 1 Tb lemon juice in a mixing bowl
Peel and halve the pears. Neatly stem and core them with a grapefruit knife. Drop each half, as it is prepared, pared, into the acidulated water to keep it from discoloring.
Pear Tart
2 cups red Bordeaux wine
2 Tb lemon juice
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 stick or ½ tsp cinnamon
A 3-quart enameled saucepan
A slotted spoon
A rack
Bring the wine, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon to the boil in the saucepan. Drain the pears, and drop into the boiling syrup; bring liquid to just below the simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Do not overcook; they must hold their shape. Remove saucepan from heat and let pears cool in the syrup for 20 minutes. Drain the pears on a rack.
Optional: a candy thermometer
¼ cup red currant jelly in a small saucepan
A wooden spoon
Rapidly boil down the syrup to the thread stage (230 degrees). Measure out ¼ cup of syrup and simmer it with the red currant jelly until jelly has dissolved and the syrup coats the spoon with a light glaze.
A 10-inch fully cooked sugar-crust shell
Paint the inside of the shell with a thin layer of the pear and jelly glaze.
2½ cups chilled frangipane (almond custard), with 2 Tb kirsch
Spread the frangipane in the pastry shell. Cut the pears into crosswise or lengthwise slices and arrange them over the custard.
Optional: ¼ cup slivered almonds
Decorate with the optional almonds. Spoon a light coating of the glaze over the top of the tart.
TARTE AUX CERISES, FLAMBÉE
[Cherry Tart Flambée]
For a spectacular entrance, sprinkle sugar over a cooked fruit tart, caramelize it briefly under the broiler, pour on liqueur, and ignite it as you enter the dining room. The following recipe is for cherries; you may use the same technique for the apricot or peach tart, and for the variations following it.
The cherries
You may use canned Bing cherries or defrosted frozen cherries instead of fresh for this recipe. In this case, omit the first step in the directions, drain the cherries thoroughly, and let them stand for at least half an hour with 3 tablespoons of kirsch or cognac and as much sugar as you feel they need. Drain them again just before using, and beat their kirsch or cognac into the cream filling.
For 6 people
3 cups fresh black cherries
1 cup red Bordeaux wine
2 Tb lemon juice
6 Tb granulated sugar
A 2-quart enameled saucepan
Wash and pit the cherries. Bring the wine, lemon juice, and sugar to the boil. Drop in the cherries, and bring the liquid to just below the simmer for 5 to 6 minutes or until cherries are tender, but retain their shape. Allow cherries to cool in the syrup for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain.
An 8-inch, fully cooked pastry shell, set in a fireproof serving dish
Use either of the sweet pastry recipes. If you wish to fill the tart shell some time before serving, paint the interior with a thin coating of red currant glaze.
1½ cups cold crème pâtissière (custard filling), or frangipane (almond custard), with 2 Tb kirsch or cognac
Fold the drained cherries into the custard, and spread the mixture in the tart shell.
Preheat broiler to moderately hot.
3 Tb granulated sugar
¼ cup kirsch or cognac, warmed in a small saucepan
Immediately before serving, sprinkle the sugar over the surface of the tart and run it under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes to caramelize the sugar lightly; be careful it does not burn. Just before entering the dining room, pour the warm liqueur over the hot caramelized surface. Avert your face and ignite the liqueur with a lighted match; bring the flaming tart to the table.
TARTE À L’ANANAS
[Pineapple Tart]
For 6 people
1 No. 2 can of sliced pineapple, pineapple wedges, or crushed pineapple (1½ cups fruit and about ¾ cup syrup)
Drain the pineapple. Boil the canned pineapple syrup for 5 minutes in a saucepan. Add the pineapple and boil for 5 minutes more. Drain the pineapple, and allow it to cool.
½ cup red currant jelly
2 Tb kirsch or cognac
Optional: a candy thermometer
Boil the pineapple syrup with the jelly and liqueur until it reduces to a glaze (last drops are sticky when dropped from a spoon, 228 degrees).
A pastry brush
An 8-inch, fully cooked, sugar-crust shell
1½ to 2 cups chilled crème pâtissière (custard filling) with 2 to 3 Tb kirsch or cognac
Paint the interior of the shell with a coating of the pineapple glaze. Spread the crème pâtissière in the pastry shell.
Optional: ¼ cup diced red and green glacéed fruit and ¼ cup slivered almonds
When the pineapple is cold, arrange it over the filling. Decorate with the optional glacéed fruits and almonds. Spoon a light coating of pineapple glaze over the top.
TARTE AU CITRON
TARTE AUX LIMETTES
[Lemon or Lime Soufflé Tart—hot]
This delicious, light tart is really a soufflé. The same filling is also attractive in little tart shells served for afternoon tea. Speaking of these, see also the lemon butter filling.
For 8 people
A 10-inch, cooked, sugar-crust shell placed on a baking sheet (use only 3 Tb sugar in the pastry)
When you bake the shell let it barely color so it will not brown too much when it goes again into the oven.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
A wire whip or electric beater
A 3- to 4-quart stainless steel bowl
½ cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
The grated rind of 1 lemon or 2 limes
3 Tb lemon juice or lime juice
A pan of not-quite-simmering water
A wooden spoon
Optional: a candy thermometer
Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back on itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon. Beat in the rind and juice. Set bowl over not-quite-simmering water and stir with wooden spoon until mixture is too hot for your finger (165 degrees), and thickens enough to coat the spoon lightly. Be careful not to overheat it and scramble the egg yolks.
4 egg whites
A pinch of salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
Beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. Fold the egg whites delicately into the warm lemon or lime mixture and turn into the tart shell.
Powdered sugar in shaker
Bake for about 30 minutes in middle level of preheated oven. When tart has begun to puff and color, sprinkle with powdered sugar. It is done when top is lightly brown, and a needle or knife plunged into the center comes out clean.
If you cannot serve it immediately, leave in turned-off hot oven with the door ajar. It will sink slightly as it cools. (May be served hot, warm, or cold but we think it is best hot.)
TARTE AU CITRON ET AUX AMANDES