Individual Apple Tarte Tatin

Last week on a rare day off I was watching the BBC America station. Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word was on and I perked up as he made these easy gorgeous individual Pear Tatins studded with Star Anise. I had a bunch of commercial supply puff pastry in my freezer, left over from a event and a few apples left from my solitary apple picking adventure the week before. I was determined to try this stunning simple dessert with what I had and it didn’t disappoint.

The recipe is simple and you just need some fresh hard fruit , peeled and cored, sugar, butter, cinnamon or star anise, and maybe a splash or rum or brandy. Be creative. And of course serve with ice cream or whipped cream to up the indulgence factor. Your guests will be amazed and it saves the terror of flipping over a whole Tarte Tatin.

Here is Gordon’s version

And here is my breakdown

Individual Apple Tarte Tatin
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Individual Apple Tarte Tatins
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons of butter
  • 2-3 large apples peeled, halved and cored
  • 4-6 squares of puff pastry
  • squeeze lemon juice
  • 1-2 tablespoons Brandy or rum
  • 4-6 whole pods of Star Anise
Instructions
  1. Prep your apples by peeling, halving, and removing the inner core and stem. Squeeze with lemon juice to prevent browning.
  2. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  3. In a heavy stainless steel skillet melt butter and sugar carefully and slowly until its starts to caramelize and brown. Be careful not to burn from sugar. You can add a splash or rum or brandy to the caramel.
  4. Quickly stud each apple halve with star anise . Wrap each piece individually with puff pastry leaving the flat half free and exposed.
  5. Place each pastry wrapped halve in the skillet with the caramelized sugar face down.
  6. Sprinkle with additional sugar is optional.
  7. Arrange in pan, and place in oven. Bake until golden .
  8. Serve face up and with ice cream or whipped cream.

 

Blackberry Almond Tarts

It’s been a crazy week and this is the first thing I have cooked for myself this week!

I love my Black Berries. OK just joking. Yes I have two. Don’t ask. The actual fruit tempted me in Costco. I have wanted to make a dessert incorporating certain pantry items I have, slivered almonds and Atora shredded Suet a friend brought back form the UK. I was determined to try this suet after researching my Plum pudding recipes for Christmas. A lot of cooks have moved away from this old fashioned product but like lard it makes for really good baking. Doesn’t make it right but it just is. So everything in moderation I say. I have made a lovely Almond tart before by Lindsey Shere of Chez Panisse I read about in Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas Macnamee. Alice provides some great recipes in her stream of consciousness way. Not exact, but very good , and easy to follow for the home cook. I decided to use an Atoras crust recipe sweetened with Confectioners sugar and Lindsey’s filling studded with additional blackberries and sprinkled with sugar to aid the berries cooking. I also used my homemade plum brandy for flavoring and a vanilla bean. I did not blind bake the crust as well. So I have veered away from the original quite a bit. The final result was a fantastic semi sweet flaky crust with a caramelized almond filling studded with tangy sweet blackberries.

Coco’s Black Berry Almond Tart

Crust
¾ – 1 cup self rising flour
½ cup Atora Suet
2-3 Tablespoons of cold water
3 tablespoons of Confectioners Sugar
Lemon Zest
Butter
Filling
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup sliced almonds
¾ cup of sugar

Blackberries
Vanilla bean
Liquor of your choice for flavoring (I used homemade Plum Brandy)

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all your crust ingredients in stand mixer bowl. Lightly whisk and add water gradually while blending on Medium speed. Stop when just combined. Dough will be sticky. Butter your tart tins or pans. Shape the dough into each form and chill for approx 20 min.
Bring heavy cream, sugar, and seeded vanilla bean with pod to a boil in heavy sauce pan. Remove from heat and add almonds and liquor. Let sit for a bit. Remove vanilla bean pods.

Fill shells with almond cream mixture. Stud tarts with berries. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top. Bake for approx 30 minutes. The tarts should start to bubble up and caramelize. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve warm or room temp alone or with ice cream.
* Note: Place your tins/pans on foil or a baking sheet and mixture will bubble over .

Sweet Tart I Love You…Daring Bakers Challenge Lemon Meringue Pie


They look sweet and innocent don’t they? Those are the ones you always have to watch out for

my mother always warned me!
In my four months as a Daring Baker I have never seen people get worked up over something as they did with this pie /tart .When Jen at Canadian Baker announced her topic as host this month reactions were varied. It seemed as if some were disappointed in this pies simplicity.But don’t judge a book by its cover! A natural reaction after all of our creative juices were let loose on the Yule Logs prior. I welcomed the challenge as I love lemons and need to work on pie crust skills.A very nice crust I must say!

For the record I have not liked lemon meringue pie for most of my life. My mother loved it and used this recipe with Real Lemon. I found the taste weird. Every now and then I found a lemon dessert I liked, but for the most part I stayed away from it. Certain Someone admits its never his favorite flavor.He likes chocolate naturally! Give me lemons in my teas, salads, fish,etc. and I’ll run to it. In dessert I approach with caution and may be just inclined to like it. The glamah gal I am decided to use those famous Meyer Lemons everyone goes on about. Expensive , but so juicy and good!Only the best for my tartlettes.All that said this pie/tart didn’t disappoint. I loved it. I loved it so much I didn’t want to waste any of tartlettes and tried to find them good homes while they were fresh. Time was of the essence because these babies only look and taste good young, but who wants an old soggy tart. So Hollywood, so 15 minutes of fame!Soon they would be all washed up and experiencing a meltdown.My greedy self popped a few over a time and even the Mister said they taste good. Those sweet thangs managed to seduce him for a moment.I could have dropped my tartletts ! So thanks Jen for zesting up our lives in this dreary winter.Next month we will move on to the next hot pastry.It may be sweet, it may be savory. Kind of like, do you gravitate to Angelina Jolie or Jennifer Aniston.I myself like the femme fatale type.But we will always remember those pies. Check out the other Daring Bakers and see their experience.

Challenge Requirements:1. Pie flavor must be lemon

Allowed Modifications:

1. You may make either the pie or the Lemon Meringue Free Form Tartlets (recipe follows Lemon Meringue Pie)

2. You can compliment your pie with a sauce. For example, you can serve it with raspberry or white chocolate sauce.

3. You can use a piping bag to apply the meringue if you like

4. Decoration is up to you – lemon zest or fruit are totally acceptable.

5. High altitude modifications are allowed as long as you stay “true” to the recipe.

6. Conversion for certain dietary restrictions like gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan etc. is allowed.

7. Recipe ingredient exception allowed only if allergy or an ingredient not available or cost prohibitive in your region.

Lemon Meringue Pie courtesy of Wanda’s Pie In The Sky by Wanda Beaver 2002

Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:

3/4 cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces

2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar

1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt

1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:

2 cups (475 mL) water

1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (120 mL) cornstarh

5 egg yolks, beaten

1/4 cup (60 mL) butter

3/4 cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:

5 egg whites, room temperature

1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar

1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt

1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract

3/4 cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

To Make the Crust:Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt.Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

To Make the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

To Make the Meringue:Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Daring Bakers Extra Challenge: Free-Style Lemon Tartlets(from “Ripe for Dessert” by David Lebovitz)

Prepare the recipe as above but complete the following steps:To roll out tartlet dough, slice the dough into 6 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each circle of dough into a 5 inch disk. Stack the disks, separated by pieces of plastic wrap, on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In The Bag Event: Cooking The Month Of October

One of the main reasons I started this food blog was to participate in a lot of food blog events and challenges. The participation from people all over the world really inspires me. While checking out another blog this morning, I noticed a event hosted by Julia from A Slice Of Cherry Pie in the UK. In the Bag is a monthly event that calls for creative uses of specially selected ingredients. I happened to have all the components on hand. And just a day to go before the deadline!This months event challenged us to use Pumpkin, Mushrooms, and Leeks. I immediately thought of a few ideas. One was a pizza with feta, a chicken roll up stuffed with the ingredients perhaps in a stuffing mixture, or this on which I finally settled on. Based on the Tarte Poireux I used to eat in Paris as a student and Quiche Lorraine’s.
Courtney’s Oyster Mushroom,Pumpkin, Leek, and Feta Tarte.

Pate Brisee for your tart shell.
9 tbs unsalted butter at room temp
1 large egg
3 tbs water at room temp
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp of salt
butter to grease tart pan

Combine butter and egg in your processor. Add flour gradually to form dough. The mixture should resemble coarse balls.Gently form into a ball and wrap in plastic for 1 hour or overnight.

Butter spring form tart pan.

Roll out pastry dough between lightly floured sheets of wax paper to fit pan plus extra.Turn out, shape , and guide into the pan. Don’t worry if it breaks or needs to be patched. Lightly punch bottom with a fork. Chill pastry dough in pan covered with wax paper for 30 min. Blind bake crust with ceramic weights if you have them for 15 min. Be sure to wrap your tart shell in foil to prevent leaks and spills.
Filling:

1 cup fresh pureed or canned pumpkin. * I made fresh, drain any excess water through a sieve. Canned may add more color as its more concentrated.

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

oyster mushrooms

1 leek

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp minced ginger

salt

pepper

butter

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 cup crumbled fresh feta( I used a water packed French feta)

sage leaves
Slice and thoroughly clean leeks, I soak them in water several times to drain the dirt and sand. shred the oyster mushrooms length wise with your fingers. Saute both with a little butter to wilt. You may add salt and pepper. Mix eggs , cream, salt,pepper,nutmeg, Parmesan,ginger, and pumpkin puree.

Take baked shell and line with leek and mushroom mixture. Add crumbled feta. Be sure your pan is tightly wrapped in foil and place in a cookie sheet to catch any spills. Pour pumpkin mixture to cover. You may have left over liquid depending on your size of shell, etc. Top with sage leaves. Bake for approx 30-40 min.

I would serve it in mini form as a appetizer, or as a main course with a seasonal salad with a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. I can also see it with bacon or ham Incorporated, but I didn’t have any.