a whisk and a spoon

Tuesdays with Dorie: Puffed Double Plum Tart

This is one of last recipes left in the rotation from BFMHTY.  I may have had to pass on it, cuz there are no plums around right now, but in a rare moment of genius forethought, I made this Puffed Double Plum Tart back in September.  Actually, I was just looking for things to do with all my summer CSA plums before they died a long, slow death in my fridge, but whatever.

Why is it called “double plum”?  Double plum turns out to equal plums plus prunes.  The prunes are jazzed up with a quick red wine poach, and that’s really the most difficult step of this whole thing.  Certainly save that sweet winey poaching liquid and reduce it into a quick sauce, so your family is tricked into thinking this was harder than just arranging some plums and prunes atop a square of store-bought puff pastry.  I liked this, not only for its ease, but also because red wine steeped prunes are incredibly delicious.  So delicious that you could probably skip the fresh plums and make this mid-winter afterall.

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or read Julie’s blog, Someone’s in the Kitchen.  And see TWD founder Laurie’s blog for Unbelievably Good Chocolate Blueberry Ice Cream, this week’s other recipe (which I unfortunately did not make this week, but I look forward to seeing your reviews). Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie (on Sunday!): Normandy Apple Tart

This Normandy Apple Tart is everything I think a French tart should be– chic and elegant and deceptively easy.  It’s a sweet tart dough with a simple applesauce filling and circles of sliced apples on top.  I love the way the apples brown on their tips…so pretty.

Dorie’s applesauce is really good.  In fact, I multiplied the recipe, because if you’re gonna make applesauce, you might as well make enough to enjoy even when the tart is finished. It has hardly any sugar and no spices, so the flavor is pure apple.  Putting it through a food mill (with the coarse disk) gives it a great texture.  When its baked in the tart, it firms enough to make perfectly clean slices.

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or read Tracey’s Culinary Adventures. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Alsatian Apple Tart

This Alstatian Apple Tart made me think of cooking school.  We made one very similar during my first few weeks at the FCI.  That was years ago, but I liked it then and I like it now, too.  In fact, it was much nicer to make it at home, where the only judge is yours truly and I don’t have to wear an annoyingly scratchy neckerchief or wobbly paper toque.  It’s a pretty easy tart to make…a sweet dough, apple slices and a little custard.  I lightened up the custard in the book by only using one egg (and skipping the extra yolk), using a combo of milk and cream (rather than all cream) and skimping on the sugar.  My CSA is done for the year, but I’m still trying to use up the apples we got in the final couple pick-ups.  I have no idea what kind they are, but they are little, have red skins and were just fine in here.  Because this tart has the custard built-in, you don’t even need ice cream!

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or read Jessica’s blog, cookbookhabit.  And see Lethally Delicious for Bittersweet Brownies, this week’s other recipe (which I unfortunately din’t get a chance to make this week). Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!