Tarte aux Pommes

That would be French Apple Tart!  And it is my mom's recipe and the first tart I've ever made.  It is simple and simply delicious.  She still makes it quite often and it is one that I enjoying sharing once in a while.  The picture is of the last one I baked in a rectangular shape in a large and old jelly roll pan.  I arranged the apple slices in the diagonal, like my mom taught me but you can also make rows of apple slices instead.  I always have to line the pan with parchment paper because my pan is very old.  Probably the first one I bought when I moved to the states 22 years ago but it still makes the best pie crust because it is dark and thin.  It attracts the heat better than a regular metal or glass pan and therefore makes the crust brown and flaky.  The recipe calls for an 11-inch tart pan.  To make it in a large jelly roll or baking sheet like on the picture just double the recipe.  You'll even have a little extra dough and apples to make a small free-form tart that you can just enjoy on your own...

1 ½ cups flour

½ cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

4 to 5 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup apricot jam

            In the bowl of a food processor, place the flour, butter, 1 tablespoon sugar and salt.  Pulse until the mixture forms pea-size pieces.  With the machine running, add the water.  Transfer the mixture to a tea towel and press into a disk.

            Lightly flour the towel and roll the dough into an 11-inch circle.  Transfer and press into a 10-inch tart pan.  Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and refrigerate.

            (May be made the day before.)

            Preheat the oven to 400ºF.  Arrange the apple slices into 2 or 3 concentric circles, slightly overlapping each other.  Sprinkle with the 1 ½ tablespoons sugar and vanilla extract and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

            Warm the apricot jam in the microwave and brush onto the hot tart coming out of the oven.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Serves 6

Mini Pumpkin and Chocolate Cheesecakes

In honor of Halloween, I had to bake something black and orange with a pumpkin flavor of course... So here come these delicious mini cheesecakes...

I used the back of my pestle to press the crumbs into a crust.  Just a trick and plenty of treats... Enjoy...

1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon and 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

A pinch of freshly grated cinnamon

8 ounces light cream cheese, at room temperature

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

½ cup canned pumpkin puree

½ cup light sour cream

1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla extra

            Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  In a medium bowl, mix together the chocolate wafer crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.  Line mini muffin tins with paper cups.  Fill each cup with a rounded teaspoon of the crumbs.  Press into a flat disk.

In a small bowl, mix ½ cup of the brown sugar and spices together.  In the bowl a food processor fitted with the metal blade, blend the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the spiced brown sugar and mix until very smooth.  Add the eggs and process well.  Add the pumpkin puree and mix again.

Transfer this mixture to a 2-cup pyrex glass measuring cup.  Carefully pour the filling into each muffin cup on top of the crust, filling each almost to the top.

Bake for 15 minutes.

            In a small bowl, mix together the sour cream, 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar and vanilla.

            Remove the cheesecakes from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF.

            Spread a small amount of the sour cream mixture over each cheesecake and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

            Let cool slightly and remove from the pan.  Cool completely and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for 1 month.

Makes 36.

Torta de dos naranjas

After looking all over the web for the perfect spanish orange cake (and starting this blog...), I gathered a couple of recipes and came up with my own. I liked that most of them didn't use flour but just ground almonds. The rest of the ingredients were pretty straight forward: eggs, sugar, oranges.

Some recipes used whole oranges cooked into a compote. Others used just the zest of the oranges and then poured an orangy syrup over the cake at the end. Well, I decided to use both hence the name: Torta de dos naranjas!

It is a delicious cake with a coarse texture specked with tiny bits of candied orange pieces giving it an intense but not overwhelming orange flavor. It is also moist from the syrup made of orange and lemon juices. Serve it with a dollop of creamy mascarpone for a true culinary delight that makes you want to come back for more... It was the perfect ending to my spanish inspired dinner last night.

Torta de dos Naranjas

For the cake:

2 oranges, about 280 grs or 10 ounces, scrubbed and roughly chopped (with skin) pips discarded

5 eggs, at room temperature, separated

200 grs or 7 ounces sugar

220 grs or 7 ½ ounces ground almond or almond meal

A few whole blanched almonds

For the syrup:

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

¼ cup sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 oranges, cut into segments

Mascarpone cheese for serving

Make the cake: Place the chopped oranges in a small saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons water, cover the pan and simmer gently for about 30 minutes or until the oranges are soft and all the excess liquid has evaporated. Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and lightly greased the sides. Finely chop the oranges.

Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add half the sugar, then beat for 1 minute.

Place the egg yolks and the remaining sugar in another bowl and beat for 2 minutes or until pale and very thick. Add the oranges and beat to combine well. Carefully fold in the ground almonds.

Stir in ¼ of the egg whites to lighten the batter then gently fold in the remaining whites. Transfer the mixture to the tin and level the surface. Arrange the whole almonds on top of the cake.

Bake for 50 minutes or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Check the cake after 25 minutes and cover lightly with aluminum foil if it is browning too quickly.

While the cake is baking, make the syrup: Place the orange juice, sugar, lemon juice and orange segments in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

After removing the cake from the oven, leave it to cool in the pan, then turn it out, peel away the parchment paper and transfer to a serving plate.

(May be made the day before and kept covered at room temperature.)

A few hours before serving, brush half the syrup over the cake and arrange the segments on top. Serve the cake with the remaining syrup and mascarpone cheese.