APPLE & VANILLA FRANGIPANE TART

I have no words to tell you how much I love this dessert! This is just beyond awesome! A few ingredients when mixed together and baked can create such a wonderful smelling delicious soft dessert. Plus, it includes fruits too! You can make it with apples, pears, peaches, apricots, nectrarines, plums etc. I am not sure whether the tropical fruits would go well with it but there's no harm in trying for sure :-)



We had a small get together at home on Friday.I made some appetizer and a dessert. As I was planning what to bake for dessert, I knew 2 things for sure. I will be making use of those apples sitting in the fridge and those apples will be made use in the form of a tart. Phew! You see, it's a big achievement for me to decide on what to do ahead of time because being a Gemini is not that easy ;-) Oh! That reminds me...there are birthdays coming up! :-)

So tart it is. Now what tart? Should I go for a shortcrust pastry base or should I go for a puff pastry base? The latter sounded very exciting because I already had a sheet of puff pastry in the fridge. Wait a minute! I have to blog about what I am making so no, I am not going to use that readymade puff pastry sheet now :-)
Alrite, I shall stick with the shortcrust pastry then. Hmm, now what kind of filling should it be? Custard? Frangipane? Fruit compote?



After raking my brains, for whatever reason it maybe, I decided to go with a Frangipane filling. I remember baking a Bakewell Tart not so long ago and I really loved it. I have a soft spot for things made with jam. Not too much but a hint is perfect. I've baked quite a lot of things with a jam filling in my life and they are all here, on the blog. Jam Tarts are my forever favourites! I think I'll take a of it box with me when I die, just in case I get bored out there!

VANILLA & APPLE FRANGIPANE TART
Serves 6

Ingredients
For the pastry:
175 g flour/maida
50 g oatmeal, powdered fine
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, very cold
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp ice cold water

Method: Preheat the oven to 350 F and get the tart tin ready. I used a rectangular shaped one. You can also use a circular shaped tin but you may have to double the filling recipe.

In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Using the biggest holes on your box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the beaten yolks + vanilla and quickly mix it into the flour.Keep mixing while dribbling in the cold water, only adding enough just to bring the dough together. It will be slightly sticky. Form into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 mins. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface and line your tart tin. Freeze it for 20 mins while you get the filling ready.

For the Frangipane
70 g unsalted butter, softened
70g almond meal /almond powder
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
1 vanilla bean, scraped out / 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method: Cream butter and sugar for a minute. Add the egg and beat for another 30 seconds. Add the vanilla,almond flour and plain flour and beat well on high for a minute. Pour into the tart tin and spread it with an offset spatula.

Arrange apples, maybe 2-3 over it as shown or as desired and bake the tart for 25-30 mins or until the frangipane has puffed up and is golden brown in colour.

I urge you all to try this dessert right away and eat it warm. I had a tub of ice cream, Dulce De Leche & Vanilla and it was just too perfect along with this awesome apple dessert.If you have been around here for a while, you will know that I wasn't a fan of baked apple goodies until I baked that Apple & Cardamom Cake. This is better than that! Can you imagine?? No? Bake some and see for yourself ;-)

BAKED CRISPY APPLE CHIPS...totally healthy!

I remember telling you not so long ago that I totally hate any form of baked apples. Remember? Ever since that day, I have been hooked onto these crunchy crispy apple chips! They are so easy to make and they are baked! Yes, not deep fried! How soothing was that to your ears? :-) I am a big lover of anything deep fried, especially potatoes! But if you get a bite of these crispy chips, you will never want to go back to deep fried snacks because it tastes as good as it looks. It is healthy too! So all in all, they are wonderful !

Ah, I forgot to tell you that you  will not feel heavy after eating these. Instead you will not stop at one...but eat a whole plateful of it! :-) You will need some patience for this to get baked as it is baked in a very low temperature which helps in maintaining the colour and also it's taste. I used Granny Smith Apples (the tart, green apple)  but you can use any variety as long as the apple is firm to touch. Having a mandoline (slicer) will help tons, but if you don't , you can put your slicing skills to a test. Just be careful when you slice it because we need it thin, as possible. I feel, halving the apple or even quartering them will make it easier as we will have a better grip on it.Also, keep the skin on,don't peel them away! :-)

When I first tried baking them at home,I was impatient and went ahead with a slightly higher temperature and the chips were kind of burnt. So, try and stick with the lower temperature.All thanks to Archana for the tips :) I am always inspired by her photographs and tried to click on the same lines this time...but her's is definately much better :-D

BAKED CRISPY APPLE CHIPS




You will need:
Apples (any firm variety,I used Granny Smith)
Slicer
Parchment paper
Baking sheet
Cinnamon powder (optional)

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 200 F which is appox. 93C and position rack in the centre.
Wash the apples and slice them fine (with or without seeds). I sliced it with the seeds,hence the beautiful design in the centre.
Lay them on a parchment lined baking sheet making sure you DO NOT overlap the apple slices.
Bake them for 1 hour 15 mins or till they turn pale brown (as you see in the pic) and crisp. It will get more crisp once cooled.
Cool the baked chips completely.
Sprinkle them with cinnamon powder (optional) and store them in airtight containers.

Verdict: We thoroughly enjoyed this healthy treat! It's perfect for tea time or to munch while watching TV. I couldn't stop admiring how cute the chips looked. Everytime I look at the first picture, it reminds me of a flying skirt! :D

Try these wonderful chips at home and stay healthy!

THE MAKING OF FRESH APPLE CIDER

R
emember the last time I told you about Apple Cider?We went to an Apple Orchard last month and that's where we saw them making Apple Cider . Till then, I had no clue about how it tasted. I have seen them in stores, they have a pale colour...can call it slightly muddy in colour (which I think is because of oxidation). They were giving out samples and we got our share. It tasted so so good and refreshing that we stood back to see them make it. I am sure some of you wouldn't have seen this before, so here it is . I don't know whether this is how apple cider is made commercially, but that day, in that farm, they made it this way.

There were a lot of people other than just the 2 of us. So we stood in line. Patiently. And I wriggled myself to find a place as close as I could, so that...

... I could see  better and also click  better, without any one obstructing me ;-)

So this man, in red, was telling us that, the boy is putting in 24 apples of 5 varieties into a slot behind that wooden plank. And can you see that wheel in red? Oh yes, it's matching matching. So once the apples are in, the man in red, will turn the wheel...

... and the apples gets crushed in between and come out like that and falls into the wooden barrel.

This is how it looks like after all the 24 apples are crushed.

After showing us the crushed apples, they then push back that wooden barrel into it's place .

They placed a wooden plank, in the diameter of the barrel over the crushed apples.Then the boy starts to turn that black thing and it goes down and presses that wooden plank placed over the apples and squeezes them.Do you know what happens when you squeeze crushed apples that way? No?

This is what happens. Notice the colour? It's kind of white which turns into muddy brown later due to oxidation.
Do you know what happens when it's squeezed even more? No?

This is what happens.
Do you know what happens if it's squeezed further more? Yes? Ok...Sshhh! Don't act smart, now, okay? :-P

You get fresh Apple Cider!! See, I knew you knew it :-P

Then he showed us what was left in that bag, nothing special, just some really crushed apples which by the way is still edible.

It's time for some fresh apple cider! Notice the colour ,now?
Woo hoo! I got to drink another cup :-)

Now that's for you :)

APPLE & CARDAMOM CAKE

I
hate to admit but I am not a big fan of any form of baked apples. I absolutely detest apple pies. According to me, apples are best eaten raw. I love their crunch . Here,in Minnesota,we have a lot of Apple Orchards in every city so we are  lucky to get farm fresh,firm, juicy,ripe apples during Fall. I love 'Honey Crisp' the most and every time we go to the Farmer's Market, I come back with a 5lb bag of 'Honey Crisp' apples.

This was my 2nd bag of apples and every time I pass by the stack, I grab one and munch. I just cannot get enough of it.I fell in love with these after we went apple picking at a farm nearby.We were also able to see how they make fresh apple cider. I will talk more about it in a post, later.

Long back, when I was in school, I got a recipe for an Apple Cake with a Struesel Topping from my Aunt's cookbook.As always, I wrote it down neatly in my diary. It's one of the first recipes in my diary.It called for frozen apple slices.So, I peeled, cored and sliced the apples fine by hand and froze it the night before. The next day after school, I measured all the other ingredients and got ready to bake. Unfortunately, our hand mixer stopped working and I didn't know about it. I asked Amma if I could make it with hand, she said it would be quite a task because we are so used to our good old Black & Decker hand mixer.

I didn't give up, instead I took a spoon and started beating the sugar and shortening together. By the look of me stirring and panting at the same time, Amma warned me that it is not going to come out fine.I still didn't give up.So, finally I mixed everything and arranged the apples in a very pretty manner on top of the cake and popped it into the oven to bake.The result:

Even Hard Rock Cafe would have had a tough competition (for the name)with my cake, if only they knew each other! It was hard but it tasted really good. So that was the end of my Apple Cake story.
This cake is first baked for 10 minutes and then a very creamy buttery absolutely delicious topping is poured over it and is baked once again for another 40 mins or till done.

APPLE & CARDAMOM CAKE
Recipe source: Helene


Ingredients:
For the cake:
All purpose flour- 1 1/4 c
Sugar- 1/2 c
Cardamom- 1 tsp, ground
Pinch of salt
Baking powder- 1 tsp
Whole milk- 3/4 c ( I used 2%)
Oil- 1/3 c
Egg-1
Apples- 2, peeled, cored and thinly sliced ( I used Honey Crisp apples , you can use any variety. I used my mandolin slicer for slicing my apples)

For the topping:
Unsalted/Salted butter- 5 1/2 tbsp, at room temperature
Sugar- 1/2 c
Egg-1
Vanilla extract- 1tsp

Method:
Pre heat the oven to 350F and prepare your cake tin.

For the cake:

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together.
• In a glass ,whisk the wet ingredients together till blended.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients slowly, whisking to make sure that everything is blended.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and arrange the sliced apples over it.

For the topping:

• Whisk the butter and sugar together till fluffy. 
• Add in the egg and vanilla and whisk once again.
• Reserve.

How to bake:

• Bake the cake with the apples on top at 350 F/180 C for 10 mins.
• Take the cake out of the oven and pour the topping over it. Spread using a spoon/spatula if necessary.
• Put it back into the oven and bake at 350 F/180 C for 40 mins or till a toothpick/skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Verdict:

If you are not a fan of baked apples like me, try this, it will change the way you look at baked apples! This cake is such a delicious thing that you just cannot stop with one slice.The topping kind of caramelizes after baking and is SO good! The addition of cardamom into the batter gives the cake a good lift .

I shared it with our neighbours and they called back saying they fought over each piece :-) See, I didn't know my cake would be a reason for their so called 'cake' fight :-) 

Jobin and myself loved this cake and he even took it as dessert to office one day.Yeah, it lasted for only a day, sadly :-/