this morning – looks serene doesn’t it?
On one hand, where I live, January can be as brutal as can be. Frigid, nasty and day after day of dreary grey. Some years it’s sunny and beaming for days on end and dry as a bone. The brightness, especially gleaming off a fresh snow is so uplifting. I prefer the latter of course. You see where I’m going here – from one year to the next, the month of January can be a mix of apples and oranges.
Yup, my attitude took a huge nosedive last Thursday with the barometer and I spent the next 4 days with a weather-predicting headache the size of a full moon. It didn’t begin to lift until the pressure rose on Sunday morning. By then my eye sockets had ached for 48 hours and the storm left its pillaging aftermath like a Nor’easter’s erosion on Nauset Beach. Walk down the next day and everything in sight has been blown, tossed and sucked out to sea. Yup, that’s what I look like. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about Winter per se, this happens in Summer, too.
Well, I’m trying to recover today. I’m back in the kitchen. I was driving home this morning and in popped an idea that must have been triggered by Emiko Davies’ post this morning about Castella. Somewhere up in what remains of the grey matter must have been floating ideas of light spongey cakes.
When I arrived home I went to work on an idea which incorporates a custardy filling similar to the baked french toast I made a couple of weeks ago when I was hoarding fresh cherries and panettone. I used that basic formula to fool around with this idea – and it incorporates Apples and an undertone of oranges. I wanted to have layers of fresh apples coddled in a lovely orange-scented custard. As Ina would say, who wouldn’t want that? This is what happened:
An Apple Torta
8 granny smith* apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/8″ thick, horizontally, all seeds removed and set into acidulated water
8 eggs
2 cups half and half (or 1 cup half and half and one cup heavy cream)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
splash of Grand Marnier
zest of 3/4 large navel orange
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
sliced almonds
about 1 tbsp muscavado sugar mixed with your fingertips with zest of 1/4 large navel orange
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9″ springform pan, add a disk of parchment paper and butter the paper. Coat the entire inside of the pan with muscavado sugar. Tap out excess. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with sliced almonds to cover (not heavily).
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, sugar, brown sugar, almond extract, Grand Marnier, orange zest and flour and baking powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and lump free.
Working in batches of about 12 slices, take the apple slices out of the acidulated water and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange the first layer in the pan in a circle with one in the center. Do not overlap the slices on the first layer. Continue arranging the slices over the first layer beginning with the first slice halfway between two slices. Add a center in each layer. Continue until apples are gone and arrange half slices in a circle in the center.
Re-whisk the filling mixture to make sure it is blended and lump free. Pour over the prepared pan with the apples. Sprinkle sliced almonds over the top of the filling. Finish with a sprinkling of the remaining orange zest with the muscavado sugar.
Place the torta on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour and 30-40 minutes or until it is puffed, nicely browned and feels firm to the touch in the center. Insert a cake tester into the center. I also used my instant read thermometer and kept it in until the center read 210F.
Remove the torta from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack. When ready to serve, gently remove the collar from the springform pan. Try not to run a knife around as you’ll dislodge all the crackling sugar. Serve in wedges with a dollop of whipped cream.
*recipe note: my granny smith apples, even though they baked for nearly 2 hours, were still a little too hard for my liking; next time I will use another apple – my choice would be golden delicious if they are really crisp at the get go; but another baking apple that won’t turn mushy would be preferable here; or slice the gs apples thinner or pre cook a little bit
I think this will lift your spirits on this early January day!
fresh apples coddled in a orange-scented custard
a beautiful site, we’re happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland
I am really enjoying the birds!