Huguenot Torte from The New York Times Magazine

This recipe was in the Sept 13, 2009 issue of the NYT Magazine. It was a reprint from a 1965 issue. It's divine. That's all you need to know. So just bake it!!!

------Ingredients:-----

2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c sugar
1 cup peeled and chopped tart apples
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup whipped cream barely sweetened and flavored w/ 1 tsp almond extract *we used sour cream, which was fantastic because it offset the extreme sweetness of the torte. You could also use creme fraiche.

-----Directions:-----


1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Beat eggs and salt with rotary beater until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar.
3. Fold in apples and pecans. Add vanilla, flour and baking powder.















4. Pour into well greased baking pan about 8 x 12" or 9 x 9" at least 2" deep.
















5. Bake for 45 mins, until sunken and crusty. Serve warm or chilled, with whipped cream.

Serves 8.


Note: it will rise A LOT. So you need to make sure your baking dish is deep:

Caramel Apple Tart

I was just looking for an excuse to try out my new tart pan when I made this a few weeks ago. So I have a recipe for Wolfgang Puck's Tarte Tatin. (No, this is not the recipe pictured above). I'm actually a little afraid I will royally screw up said recipe, because it involves scorching the apple-covered top of the tart with the bottom of a hot skillet.
So I made a knock off. I prebaked a tart shell then filled with caramel sauce and topped with apple slices sauteed in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves.
If anyone out there has tried the French method for making the tart I described above, I would like to know how it turned out, thanks!

Choux Swans

Pate a choux is the dough used to make cream puffs, eclairs, etc.
It's made by boiling water and butter together then adding flour to form a paste. Then you gradually add eggs off heat. The paste is piped onto baking sheets into desired shapes and it puffs to about 3 or so times its original size in the oven.

I piped mine into shapes to make the wings and heads of swans (note: I did not have a large plain tip, only a large star):

...then popped them in the oven:

Here are some recipes for pate a choux:

Sweet or Savory Pate a Choux by Alton Brown

Pate a Choux on eHow.com


Don't be intimidated by this French dough. It's not difficult to make at all. Just pay attention to the texture as you heat it over the stove. It starts out looking like mashed potatoes and then you'll see that it's sufficiently dried out when it pulls away from the sides of the pan and it gets shiny. After the eggs are added, it gets sticky again but forms a nice smooth paste.