Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Apple Kuchen
September 22, 2015 at 3:53 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 16 CommentsTags: baking, cake, fruit
I have to say that I wasn’t too sure about this Apple Kuchen when I started putting it together. I did not doubt that it would be tasty…I mean, apples and custard inside a sweet crust….yeah, that’s good, obvi. This sounded like it would be the high-rise cousin to the low-rise Alsatian Apple Tart. It’s just that I did not get off to a very good start making it.
The crust was easy enough to make and roll out, but let me tell you that getting a soft, delicate crust pressed neatly into a tall springform pan is a pain in the you-know-what. It was frustrating enough that the dough cracked into like a 1,000 pieces, but while I was pressing them back together into something crudely resembling a crust, the clasp on said springform decided to pop and now will not stay closed (actually, now it’s in the recycle bin). Ugh. I needed to go with it at that point, so I put a tight rubber band around the pan to hold it closed, dusted cookie crumbs on the bottom, piled it full of apples and chucked it in the oven to par bake. Not my most brilliant idea, as within a few minutes, the rubber band popped in the heat and the buckle opened up again, cracking the crust. I scrambled around and found a small pie pan that was big enough to hold the springform but tight enough to keep the buckle in the closed position. The dough was still soft at that point and seemed to come back together when the pan was re-closed, but with all those apples in there, I really couldn’t tell what condition it was in.
After the par bake, I poured in the crème fraiche custard (confession:I replaced 1/3 of the crème fraiche amount with buttermilk to lighten the calories a bit) and scattered on some plumped raisins. I was amazed that the custard did not immediately leak out the pan, so I hoped for the best. I was just making a half-recipe (6″), but I left it in the oven the full time. A knife poked into the center still didn’t come out completely clean after an hour, but I took it out away. After it came to room temp, I popped my springform-in-pie-plate contraption it into the fridge for extra insurance that the custard would be fully set. And then the moment of truth…
Guess what. The crust was perfect. There was not one spot torn or cracked and not a drop of custard had leaked out. How this happened, I do not know. It’s like it self-healed in the oven. It was very handsome, actually, and delicious…chockablock full of chunky apple pieces with rummy custard seeped around them. Now that I know to relax about the crust, next time, I’ll either mix the raisins in with the apples at the start or I’ll skip the final step of running the kuchen under the broiler with extra sugar and butter on the top…or maybe I’ll do both. The raisins were a little too brûléed for my tastes…they started off as golden raisins, but you can see in the picture what happened to them under the broiler!
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
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That looks absolutely wonderful!
Comment by SpoonGood— September 22, 2015 #
I totally agree…if I made this again I would be a lot more relaxed about the final product. It turns out just fine. 🙂
Comment by isthisakeeper— September 22, 2015 #
Your kuchen looks perfect! Sounds like you had just as much fun with your crust as I did! I don’t think my rum-soaked raisins agreed with being under the broiler. Like yours, my raisins got a little too brulee’d…
Comment by Busy Oven— September 22, 2015 #
I like as much the way you told the story of how this cake was made as the beautiful tart you produced. All perfect in the end!
Comment by flourishen test kitchen— September 22, 2015 #
Gorgeous picture! The baking Gods were definitely one your side with this one!
Comment by Nicole @ The 2nd 35 Years— September 22, 2015 #
Those apples look luscious. Thank you for your honest recap of your experience baking this. I often run into issues while baking and can really appreciate hearing how someone else worked through issues and came out with a beautiful and tasty end product.
Comment by aileencooks— September 23, 2015 #
That’s definitely a happy rnding. The dough was a pain, but I am glad you enjoyed the end result
Comment by Cakelaw— September 23, 2015 #
It looks amazing despite your trials with the crust (and the pan!)
Comment by Zosia— September 23, 2015 #
THAT is one beautiful kuchen. And after all the troubles. My crust looked like a badly made patchwork quilt going int and not much better coming out.
Comment by teaandscones— September 23, 2015 #
I think relaxing about the crust is key – mine was pretty patched together, but it was perfect when it came out of the oven. Your kuchen looks beautiful!
Comment by Teresa— September 23, 2015 #
I love that about baking, sometimes you just have to wing it a little and hope for the best! It really does still look absolutely delicious! 🙂
Comment by Jane— September 24, 2015 #
It looks very good! I have just started my blog with a dessert! I still have much to do!
Comment by De Postres— September 25, 2015 #
We seem to have a universal problem with the crust and I think our little refrigeration chill did the trick. Mixing in the raisins would be a good idea next time. Looking forward to our next cooking adventure.
Comment by Diane Zwang— September 25, 2015 #
Yum! Have you tried plum kuchen? It’s one of my favourites.
Comment by Spill The Beans— September 26, 2015 #
Mmmm…Looks delicious! I’m about to pick all my apples.
Comment by joycevandenbergporter— September 28, 2015 #
This is just lovely and delicious looking.
Comment by Teresa Blackburn— September 29, 2015 #