Not your mother’s tarte aux pommes.
Apple Pie opens tonight at the Downtown Initiative For The Visual Arts in Eugene, and, for the occasion, my mother and I made a tarte aux pommes. To make one like it, you would need:
an oven at 425 degrees
a food processor
a 10 or 11 inch pan
1.5 cups of flour
a pinch of salt
5 tablespoons of chilled unsalted butter
6 tablespoons of chilled water
some apple sauce
3.5 (ish) apples
some raw sugar
some egg white
some quince jelly
some lemon juice
O, and you might need your glasses too! I know my Maman can’t bake without them.
photo by my mother
Ever since I was little, I’ve made yums with my mom. I couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5 when she was already encouraging me to crack the eggs for a brownie or measure the flour for a cake. True to form, she still trusts me to make a mess in her kitchen!
Combine the flour, salt, and butter (cut into tablespoon-sized chunks) in the food processor. Pulse a few times to mix the butter in, but not too much.
photo by my mother
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes.
photo by my mother
Spread more plastic wrap on a slightly damp surface (so it will stick). Put the dough in the middle and cover it with more wrap. Roll the dough out in between the layers of plastic wrap into a 14 inch circle and then chill it in the freezer for 5 minutes (so that the plastic wrap will come off the dough easily). Meanwhile, peel and slice your apples.
Lay the dough in the pan and spread a layer of apple sauce on the bottom.
photo by my mother
Carefully layer the apple slices in a circle around the perimeter…
...and then make your mom finish it up by putting apple slices in the middle, cutting away the excess dough, and turning the end of the dough over the edge of the apples.
Sprinkle the raw sugar over the apple slices and paint egg white on the upturned crust (to make it brown nicely). Put it in the oven for 45 minutes at 425 degrees.
Yum! But not quite finished.
Make a glaze by combining quince jelly and lemon juice over heat…
...and paint it on the tarte while it’s still warm.
De-li-cious! Come help us eat it tonight from 5 to 8.30!
DIVA
110 W Broadway
Eugene, OR 97401
541.344.3482
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CATEGORIES: - Process images - Events - Apple Pie -
(7) Comments / Commentaires: Not your mother’s tarte aux pommes.
Your crust looks amazing. I hope the opening went well. We’re hoping to make it down for the artist’s talk.
B: It is a lovely kitchen, isn’t it? They’ve updated the counter and the cabinet/wall colors since you were there too…
Thank you!
G: The crust was amazing: flakey to perfection! My Maman also made to other kinds of tartes, one with frangipane that was particularly delicious (or so I heard, it was gone before I got a nibble!).
I want to learn how to make frangipane.
Loved the walk thru with your mom, the result looks absolutely superb (and completely NOT on my low saturated fat diet).
Frangipane:
0.5 cup softened butter
0.5 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoons apple brandy
0.75 cup ground almonds
2 tablespoons flour
Cream the first two ingredients then add the rest of them in one at a time.
Replace the apple sauce in the recipe above with the frangipane. And I forgot—very important!—prick the dough with a fork all over before spreading apple sauce or frangipane on it.
And, Bill, I’m guessing that the frangipane is also a no-go for you! At least the first recipe doesn’t have too much sugar in it…!
YUM!!!! Thanks for explaining the “why” of the instructions and for teaching me the trick about plastic wrap roll-outs. Spiffy!
Bethy...
I miss my visits to that kitchen!
--- -- - --- - ---- - - --- ----- -- -Your tarte looks amazing - best wishes for tonight!!