Tag Archives: apples

Tarte Aux Pommes

As apples are coming into season, leaves are transitioning over to their Burt-orange and yellow shades, and (the U.S) Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I thought I would share my most recent kitchen adventures with the tarte aux pommes (French apple tart). I think it’s such a nice counter-partner to the traditional “apple pie”, but comes off a bit more rustic and showy.

Hopefully I won’t get any backlash for this statement, but in my opinion the tarte aux pommes taste practically identical to the U.S version of apple pie. The exception is that the tarte aux pommes has wafer thin apple slices neatly arranged in the open on top of the tart, a buttery crust, and a caramelized glaze to give the whole thing that irresistible eat me sheen.

We prepped all of our materials and ingredients. I familiarized myself with the French tart ring, eek no bottom! Have you ever had the opportunity to use one?

I learned a new trick with how to make homemade vanilla sugar…. guess you will need to ask me to spill the beans.

To start we made a sweet short crust pastry. Rolled everything out by hand. Carefully Arranged dough in our tart ring and mini tartlet pans. We then popped them all into the refrigerator until we were ready for them again.

We then diced and thinly sliced the apples by hand.

We added our diced apples to pots on the stove with a mixture of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. The warm baking smells of the mixture slowly cooking happily danced up our noses. I wish I could just share that experience alone with you all.

Once the apples were soft on the stove top we then pulled out our chilled pastry dough and started to really get to work.

We filled the center of the tart with smaller diced warm apples and then continued on aligning and arranging the top ring of thinly sliced apples. It took me two attempts to get what I was looking for visually. Don’t fret if you end up doing the same.

Lastly brush the top of the apples with melted butter and generously sprinkle sugar over the tarte. We used the deck oven again and baked until golden brown. When it was finally finished, it looked incredible!

The last step was to lightly brush an apricot nappage–(an apricot jelly diluted with a bit of water and heated to near-boiling) over the tart tops. This nappage will help seal in the moisture and give it that stunning sheen that I mentioned above.

You can serve this French tart with a nice dollop of whip cream, or vanilla bean ice cream. Or, do as we did and invite your dearest friends over after a dinner out and serve casually with tea, coffee and good stories around the dining room table. Together we swooned with each bite of the buttery crust and heavenly scent of apples and cinnamon that encouraged us to just go ahead and indulge!

Backpackbees

An Apple a Day

So I guess we have more than enough apples to enjoy for a few days… or so…

I didn’t get to fulfill my hopes of apple picking in Korea this year. I couldn’t track down a farm that would allow you to pick yourself. I guess I can add that to my list of things that I do miss from home.

Don’t worry! We did fulfill the apple void by ordering a 15 kilo (roughly 33lbs) box of freshly picked apples from a farm South of us. These apples are delicious! My stomach is envisioning many nights of apple slices dunked in caramel and topped with whipped cream, totally healthy, hey! You’ve got to live a little.

Speaking of apples and things that I miss, almost every fall my family makes applesauce and cans it for the winter. The sauce is heavenly. Just the perfect amount of sweetness. If I were home right this second id be begging to make it with them. Hopefully there is at least one jar left when we go home for a visit to savor.

How do you enjoy your apples? Plain? sauced? baked? Feel free to let me in on a few recipes too! Goodness, you see our refrigerator, I think we can spare a few and try out a new thing or two.

The nerd in me had to share these fun facts that I received in an e-mail as I was writing this blog. Perfect timing!

  • The crabapple is the only apple native to North America.
  • Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, and yellows.
  • Two pounds of apples make one 9-inch pie.
  • 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.
  • 7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
  • Apples are grown in all 50 states.
  • Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free.
  • Apples are a great source of the fiber pectin. One apple has five grams of fiber.
  • The science of apple growing is called pomology.
  • Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
  • Most apples are still picked by hand in the fall.
  • Apple varieties range in size from a little larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit.
  • Apples are a member of the rose family.
  • Apples harvested from an average tree can fill 20 boxes that weigh 42 pounds each.
  • The largest apple picked weighed three pounds.
  • Most apples can be grown farther north than most other fruits, because they blossom late in spring, minimizing frost damage.
  • Apples have five seed pockets or carpels. Each pocket contains seeds. The number of seeds per carpel is determined by the vigor and health of the plant. Different varieties of apples will have different number of seeds.
  • Apples ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated. 
Source: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm
Humph, who would’ve thought.

What Fall Looks Like in South Korea

Dear friends,

Isn’t Fall so enchanting? there is just something about fresh apples, pumpkins, the colorful mums, the fog around the mountain peaks in the distance when driving to work in the morning, breaking out my cardigans, getting to see the leaves change, feel the difference in the weather, cooking big batches of soup, sip on something pumpkiny or cinnamony, Charlie Brown, scarves, boots with knee socks, snuggling in my comfy goose down comforter to watch my favorite movie with one of the large living-room windows open in the evening, the fact the moon comes much earlier and shines so brightly.

I love reminiscing about my childhood in the fall. The simple days of scooping up a huge pile of crisp colorful leaves when they would fall, and jumping in them. If we were home right this very second I know what Mr. B and I would be doing, why going to the Bloomsburg Fair of course. I’d also be finding reasons to make multiple trips to Starbucks to get my hands on their sweet treats and autumn drinks. Unfortunately the Korea Starbucks do not serve either in recognition of fall. 🙁 (Currently open and willingly accepting donations) he-he-he! Just kidding, we will survive.

AH! Everything about Fall screams comfort to me. I just cannot get enough of it.

What’s your favorite season? The older I get, I realize more and more how much I enjoy getting to see the seasons change. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to grow up on the North East coast where I’d see and experience these magical changes every year.