Alsatian Style Apple Pie Food

ALSATIAN-STYLE APPLE PIE

Steps:

• For crust:
• Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in enough ice water using on/off turns until dough begins to form clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.
• For filling:
• Whisk eggs and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl to blend. Whisk in cream, milk, kirsch, and spices. Cook 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until butter begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Whisk into cream mixture. Set custard aside.
• Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium heat. Add apples and remaining 1/4 cup sugar; sauté until apples begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; sauté until apples are tender and golden brown, about 7 minutes longer. Cool.
• Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12 1/2-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter pie dish. Fold dough edges under and crimp decoratively. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 10 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until crust is golden, about 15 minutes longer. Cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Arrange apple mixture in pie shell. Pour custard over. Bake until knife inserted into center comes out clean, covering crust with foil if browning too quickly, about 40 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool slightly. Serve warm.

ALSATIAN-STYLE APPLE AND CREAM TART

Steps:

• To make the tart:
• Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface and fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Prick the shell with a fork and chill it for at least 30 minutes or, covered, overnight. Line the shell with foil, fill the foil with the rice, and bake the shell in the lower third of a preheated 425°F. oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and the rice carefully, bake the shell 10 minutes more, or until it is pale golden, and let it cool in the pan on a rack.
• In a bowl stir together the apples, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths, the lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and toss the mixture until the apples are coated well. In a large bowl whisk together the yolks, the cream, 2 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining sugar, a pinch of salt, and the vanilla and stir in the raisins. Arrange the apples decoratively in the shell, pour the cream mixture over them, and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon over it. Bake the tart in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the apples are tender when pierced with a cake tester, let it cool in the pan on a rack, and remove the rim.
• To make the pâte brisée:
• In a large bowl blend the flour, the butter, the vegetable shortening, and the salt until the mixture resembles meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water, toss the mixture until the water is incorporated, adding more ice water if necessary to form a dough, and form the dough into a ball. Dust the dough with flour and chill it, wrapped in wax paper, for 1 hour.

ALSATIAN APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°. Generously butter a 12-inch cake pan or 10-inch springform pan.
• Beat together the 3 eggs, honey, oil, milk, vanilla and rum.
• Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.
• Peel, core and cut the apples into eighths (or more if the apples are large). As you're working, drop the apple slices into the batter & combine to avoid them turning brown.
• Bake for 30 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil if the top becomes too brown.
• While it's baking, make the topping by beating together the 1 egg, melted butter and brown sugar.
• After 30 minutes, spread the topping evenly over the cake and bake another 10 minutes, until carmelized on top.
• Cool in the pan on a rack. Serve warm or cool. It reheats nicely.

ALSATIAN APPLE AND CREAM TART

Steps:

• Prick the bottom of the shell and bake it on the lower third of a preheated 375°F oven for 15 minutes, and let it cool in the pan on a rack.
• In a bowl stir together the apples, lemon juice, and 2 table spoons of sugar and toss the mixture until the apples are coated well.
• In a large bowl whisk together the yolks, the cream, 2 1/2 tablespoons of remaining sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla and stir in raisins.
• Arrange the apples decoratively in the shell, pour the cream mixture over them, and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 table spoons of sugar with the cinnamon over it.
• Bake the tart in the middle of a preheated 375°F oven for 1 hour, or until the apples are tender when pierced with a cake tester, let it cool in the pan on the rack.
• Serve.