Super Yummy Apple Recipe

[nightdog_barks]

Today is the second time I have made this recipe, and it is so good. It's sort of like the consistency of crème brûlée, layered with thinly-sliced apples. Very easy to put together, not much sugar. This time we added a teaspoon of apple pie spice and a couple of tablespoons of golden rum, and subbed almond extract for vanilla. The whole recipe is under the cut ...




Dorie Greenspan's Custardy Apple Squares

Here's a delicious and almost foolproof recipe for novice bakers that's easily customized with spices, a little rum or dried cranberries. See Dorie Greenspan's bonnes idées (VARIATIONS), below.

Most often, Greenspan serves these squares plain. But whipped cream, creme fraîche or ice cream would make a great partner.

Make Ahead: The squares, which are good a few minutes out of the oven or at room temperature the day they are made, can also be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days and served chilled.

Tested size: 9 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for the pan
3 medium juicy, sweet apples, such as Gala or Fuji, peeled
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch fine sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)


DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan with a little butter.

Slice the apples from top to bottom using a mandoline, Benriner or sharp knife, turning the fruit 90 degrees each time you reach the core. The slices should be about 1/16 inch thick: elegantly thin, but not so thin that they’re transparent and fragile. (If they’re a little thicker, that’ll be fine, too.) Discard the cores.

Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

Use a whisk to combine the eggs, sugar and salt in a large bowl for about 2 minutes, until the sugar has just about dissolved and, more important, until the eggs are pale. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then the milk and the melted, cooled butter. Add the flour mixture into the bowl; use the whisk to form a smooth batter.

Add the apples to the bowl; switch to a flexible spatula and gently fold in the apples, turning the mixture until each thin slice is coated in batter. Scrape the mixture into the pan, smoothing the top as evenly as you can. It will be bumpy; that’s its nature.

Bake (middle rack) for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and puffed — make sure the middle of the cake has risen — and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Carefully cut into 9 equal squares in the pan (being careful not to damage the pan); or unmold the slab onto a rack, flip it onto a plate so it is right side up and then cut it into 9 squares. Either way, give the squares a dusting of confectioners’ sugar before serving, if you’d like.

VARIATIONS: You can add a couple of tablespoons of dark rum, Calvados, applejack or Armagnac or a drop (really just a drop) of pure almond extract to the batter. If you have an orange or a lemon handy, you can grate the zest over the sugar and rub the ingredients together until they’re fragrant. You can also change the fruit. Pears are perfect, and a combination of apples and pears even better. Or make the cake with 2 firm mangoes — the texture will be different, but still good — or very thinly sliced quinces. Finally, if you want to make this look a little dressier, you can warm some apple jelly in a microwave and use a pastry brush to spread a thin layer of it over the top.


Adapted from "Baking Chez Moi," by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014).

Comments

[bironic]

I love that recipe so much. Fancy enough for guests and easy enough for whenever.

[nightdog_barks]

Yes! Both these things. And so easy to try different ingredients, like pears instead of apples, or adding dried cherries or cranberries, or adding a fruit brandy instead of rum. So many possibilities! :D

[blackmare]

I have had the sudden thought of: PEACHES

I mean, can you imagine?

[nightdog_barks]

PEACHES I LOVE PEACHES

... hm, I just wonder if it would come out more like a cobbler, since peaches are so much juicier than apples or pears. But cobblers are good too! :D

[bironic]

Mmmmmm, the Fruit in Custard Variations.

[blackmare]

My adventures in cooking, today:

I had some chicken breast and some broth I'd bought, and the rice noodles and garlic and ginger and cilantro. So I was all set to make noodle soup, and for veggies this time I added some thinly sliced cabbage. It tastes really good.

But it was purple cabbage, and the soup looks ... badly bruised. :-D

[nightdog_barks]

Makes me think of borscht, except borscht is more hot pink (with the addition of sour cream) than bruised. *g*

[silverjackal]

I would like this with quinces I think, but alas they are unobtainable here (to where people don't even know what a quince is).

[nightdog_barks]

You know, I know what a quince is, but I don't think I've ever had one. They do sound very good. :-)

[silverjackal]

The savour is tied very much to the variety of quince. Some are like eating sour bark, particularly the slick, bitter, fibrous pith (i.e. virtually inedible unless cooked jam and heavily sweetened, which I do not care for). The odour, though -- it is impossible for me to distinguish, when I think of the fruit, what part of the appeal is flavour, and what scent. The blossom is also very beautiful. I miss quinces.