Apple Andor Quince Tarte Recipes

QUINCE TARTE TATIN

Steps:

• In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or food processor, blitz together the flour, sugar, salt, and butter, until the butter is in small, but discernible pieces, about the size of large peas.
• Add the water and mix (or pulse) until the dough just begins to hold together. If it looks too dry, add a sprinkle more water.
• Use your hands to knead the dough for a couple of seconds, just until it comes together, and shape it into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

APPLE AND QUINCE TART

Steps:

• Make the shell: in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter, chop the butter into the flour mixture until pea-size and coated with flour. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water and toss lightly with a fork. The dough will not come together at this point. Transfer the crumbly dough to the counter and, using the heel of your hand, smear the dough to marble the butter into it. Scrape up the dough and repeat this process one or two times until the dough comes together. Once the dough forms a ball, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and press into a flattened disk. Refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 2 days.
• On a surface lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough into a 14-inch circle, 116-inch thick. Line an 1112-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom with the dough and place in the freezer.
• Prepare the filling by combining the quince, 4 tablespoons butter and 12 cup sugar in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan set over medium heat. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every 3 to 5 minutes. Uncover, reduce the heat to low and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the quince is tender and darker in color, about 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
• Adjust the rack to the bottom third of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees. Peel, core and quarter the apples. Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, slice the apples as thinly as possible and set aside.
• Remove the tart shell from the freezer. Scrape the cooked quince into the shell and distribute it evenly. Layer the apples over the quince around the outermost edge of the tart with about 15 of the apple hanging over the rim of the pan. Each slice should overlap the preceding by half. Once you have made a full circle of apples around the outer edge, make a new circle closer to the center, overlapping the outer circle with about 14 of the apple slice. Continue layering until the quince is completely covered with apples.
• Make a brown butter by melting the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat, stirring constantly, until golden brown and nutty-smelling. Drizzle the brown butter over the apples and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
• Place the tart on a sheet pan and cook for 70 minutes. Lower the oven to 350 degrees and bake until the apples have caramelized, the filling is bubbling and the crust is brown, another 20 minutes. Allow the tart to cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack; remove the tart pan. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.

PEAR, APPLE, AND QUINCE CROSTATA

Steps:

• Make roasted fruit:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Peel, quarter, and core pears, apples, and quince, then cut into 1-inch chunks. Toss fruit with sugar, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, and 1 tablespoon apple cider in a bowl. Transfer to a large shallow baking pan (17 by 12 inches) and roast, stirring once or twice, until fruit is very soft and caramelized, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
• Remove from oven and add remaining tablespoon apple cider, scraping up caramelized juices from bottom of baking pan. Discard cinnamon stick and cloves. Cool in pan on a rack, about 45 minutes.
• Make pastry shell while fruit roasts:
• Whisk together flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 6 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If dough doesn't hold together, add more ice water to dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just combined. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all of dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 14-inch round, then fit into tart pan (do not trim).
• Make brown sugar filling:
• Put a large baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and a pinch of salt and mix until just combined. Spread evenly in pastry shell.
• Assemble and bake pastry:
• Scatter roasted fruit with juices over filling. Fold edge of pastry over filling to partially cover (center won't be covered). Pleat dough as necessary. Brush folded pastry edge lightly with egg and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar.
• Bake on preheated baking sheet until filling is puffed and set and pastry is golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool to warm, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove side of tart pan and slide crostata onto a plate.

APPLE AND QUINCE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Peel, core and slice the apples, then peel, core and grate the quince. Fill a pie pan with the fruit, sprinkling sugar over each layer, and mounding it up toward the center of the pan. Pour the water into the pan to come halfway up to the fruit.
• Roll out the dough. Cut off a thin strip and attach it to the rim of the pan, brushing the rim with water first. Brush the strip with water and cover the pan with the sheet of dough, cutting off all the overhanging bits. Crimp the edges, brush the top with eggwash, and strew over the demerara sugar. Bake for 20 minutes before turning the temperature down to 375 degrees F and cooking for a further 20 minutes. Eat warm or hot with heavy cream.
• Use approximately twice the weight of all purpose flour (preferably organic) to unsalted butter. Some recipes call for half butter, half lard.
• Sift the flour and a pinch of sea salt into a food processor, then cut the cold butter into small pieces on top of it. I process it for 20 to 30 seconds, then add ice-cold water through the top, a tablespoon at a time, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes should be enough for about 10 ounces of dough, with the machine running. If the paste is still in crumbly little bits after 1 or 2 minutes, add a tablespoon more water, but remember, the more water you use, the more the crust will shrink if you bake it blind. One solution is to use a bit of cream or egg yolk instead of water. The moment the dough has cohered into a single ball, stop, remove it, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• If you're making pastry dough by hand, sift the flour into a large bowl with the salt, add the chopped butter, and work as briskly as you can to rub the fat into the flour. Use the tip of your fingers only, rather like running grains of hot sand through your fingers. Add the water bit by bit as above; wrap and chill the dough.
• If you're making a double-crust pie, divide the dough into roughly 2/3 and 1/3. Then scatter a bit of flour on your work surface, roll your rolling pin in it, dust the palms of your hands, and start rolling. Always roll away from yourself, turning the dough as you go, and keep the rolling pin and work surface floured to prevent sticking.
• Preheat the oven to 375 to 400 degrees F.
• Line your greased pie pan with dough. Never stretch it; it will stretch back. Try to leave at least 30 minutes for the unbaked dough to commune with the inside of your fridge. Or put it in the night before you need it.
• Tear off a piece of waxed paper a little larger than the pie pan and place it over the dough. Cover the paper with a layer of dried beans; the idea is to prevent the pastry from rising up in the oven. When the dough is nearly cooked (the timing depends on the rest of the recipe), remove the paper and beans and prick the bottom of the pie shell to let out trapped air that would otherwise bubble up. Return the tart to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes to dry the bottom. Brushing the partly baked pie shell with a light coating of beaten egg or egg white ensure a crisp finished tart.
• Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Rub in 2 tablespoons of the butter, as for shortcrust pastry dough, or use a food processor. Mix in the water and then gently knead the dough on a floured surface, preferably marble. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Keep the rest of the butter out so that it softens, then flatten it into a rectangle 1 inch thick. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into the same size as the butter. Place the butter in the center of the pastry and then fold over the top and bottom of the dough to cover the butter.
• With the rolling pie, press down on the edges to seal in the butter, then give the dough a quarter turn clockwise. Now roll the dough out so that it returns to it's original length. Fold over the ends again, press them together with the rolling pin, and give a further quarter turn clockwise. Repeat the process once more, then rest the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, remembering which way it is facing.
• Repeat the rolling and turning process twice more, then refrigerate for a final 30 minutes before using or freezing. If the dough gets warm and buttery at any stage during the process, put it in the fridge to chill.
• If you prefer not to make your own, you can buy ready-made puff pastry, but try to find the very best available.

APPLE-QUINCE TARTE TATIN

Steps:

• To make the dough, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a pastry blender), mix together the flour, the 2 teaspoons sugar, and the salt. Add the 4 tablespoons (2 ounces/60 g) chilled butter pieces and keep mixing until the butter pieces are about the size of corn kernels. Add the ice water and mix until the dough comes together. Gather the dough and shape it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• To prepare the fruit and assemble the tart, peel, quarter, and core the apples. Peel, quarter, and core the quinces, then cut them into 1/4-inch (6-mm) slices. Melt the 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces/145 g) butter in a 10-inch (25-cm) cast iron skillet. Sprinkle the 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar over the bottom of the pan and remove from the heat.
• Pack the apples tightly in the pan, standing them on end, with the cored sides facing inward. It may seem like a lot of fruit, but they'll cook down considerably. Insert the quince slices between the apples.
• Place the skillet on the stovetop and cook over medium heat until the juices thicken and become lightly caramelized, about 25 minutes. While they're cooking, press down on the apples to ease them into the pan and promote caramelization.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough into a 12-inch (30-cm) circle. Drape the dough over the apples in the skillet and tuck the edges down between the sides of the skillet and the apples.
• Bake the tart until the pastry has browned, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and invert a serving plate over the skillet. Wearing long oven mitts, grasp both the skillet and the plate and turn them over together, away from you, to unmold the tart. Be careful of any hot juices that may spill out!
• Although purists say tarte Tatin is best served on its own, others appreciate a spoonful of crème fraîche or Vanilla Ice Cream (page 143) on top or alongside.
• The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 1 month. Tarte Tatin should be served warm the day it's made. You can make it an hour or so in advance and leave it on the serving plate, under the overturned skillet, to keep it warm after baking. It can also be rewarmed in a low oven.
• Poaching the quince before assembling the tart will turn them a lovely ruby-red color and bring out even more flavor: In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar, 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water, and a 2-inch (5-cm) piece of vanilla bean, split lengthwise, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then decrease the heat to maintain a simmer.
• Peel, core, and cut the quinces into eighths. Put the pieces in the saucepan, cover with a circle of parchment paper cut to fit inside the pan, and simmer gently, covered, until tender, 30 to 60 minutes. Once poached, the quince can be kept in the refrigerator in the poaching liquid for up to 1 week. When assembling the tart, tuck the poached quince pieces between the apples. The poaching liquid can be reduced in a skillet until thick and syrupy, cooled slightly, and used as a sauce, if desired.
• Use a full-flavored apple, one that won't turn to mush during cooking. Winesap, Granny Smith, Northern Spy, Pippin, and Jonagold work well.

APPLE AND/OR QUINCE TARTE

Steps:

• Cut together flour, shortening and salt until it resembles small peas.
• Combine the egg, water and vinegar and gradually add to flour mixture.
• Stir just until moistened.
• Roll out.
• Combine sugar, flour, butter, lemon zest, cinnamon, allspice and cloves in a food processor.
• Process until well blended.
• Spread the sugar mixture over an unbaked pie crust.
• Arrange apple and quince slices, in an overlapping pattern.
• Spread the confectioner sugar.
• Bake on 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until crust is lightly browned (heat and timing are basing it on convection oven).
• Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.