I followed Dorie's directions to peel mid-way down the apple, make a shallow cut around the apple, where the peel begins, then rub the cut with lemon. This seemed overly fussy, and I doubt I'd bother in the future. She says it will keep the apple from splitting. Mine did remain intact, but it was an annoying step for a dessert that would otherwise be super-fast to set up.
Thanks to Diane for the tip to use the melon baller to carve out the apple core without breaking through the bottom. I was making a hell of a mess of it with a knife, until I remembered that I do, in fact, own a melon baller. That made life much simpler.
I packed the apples with a mix of honey, raisins, dates, dried cranberries, and chopped almonds, poured apple juice, butter, and the reserved apple peels into the pan. (Why use the peel? Does the pectin in the skin thicken the sauce a little? Is it a flavoring agent? Why, Dorie? Why?) I thought it would be a pain in the butt to baste the apples every 15 minutes, but it wasn't.
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| Yeah, boyeeeee! |
In addition to the delightful textural contrast of the nuts and fruit inside the not-quite-spoon-tender, but still soft apple, my favorite part was that some of the honey (or maybe it was the dates? Couldn't tell.) caramelized into stick-to-your-teeth, chewy surprises. Yum.
I revisited last week's Dressy Pasta Risotto for dinner, and used the last two spoonfuls of mascarpone left in the container to top the apples. Perfetto!
In addition, I caught up on the Goat Cheese Mini Puffs. I brought them, along with a lasagne and Dorie's Provencal Olive Fougasse (one of my favorite recipes from the book) to a friend's house on New Years Eve. She was providing the location for a party a mere 3 hours after her plane from Venice touched down. She supplied booze and space, guests brought food. It was an excellent trade.
I'm glad I made the puffs, to cross them off the list. I'd pick gougeres over these any day. They were fine, and the entire tray disappeared quickly, but I won't be making them again.
Those goat cheese puffs were addictive. Utterly addictive.
ReplyDeleteThese baked apples could easily become a new friend. Yes - why did she want the peels in????? ( I threw mine out before reading that little tidbit and I have no idea if it changed anything...)
I agree with you on the puffs. They were good, but the gougeres are a favorite. The technique was interesting though and I'd like to try the dessert version at some point in the future.
ReplyDeleteYour apples look delicious:) We loved these apples. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad the melon baller was helpful to you.. you asked the same questions as me… why the peels in the sauce… pectin is a good possibility the other being that who ever showed her this recipe did it and so she did it.,, and yes, the basting was a pain. I went with every 20 minutes just to be defiant.
ReplyDeleteI hope Dorie will let us know about the peels. I couldn't figure that one out either and I had to sort them out from the garbage because I forgot I was supposed to use them. Right....gross. And, did anyone's baked apples get really, really tender?From the pictures, I don't think so. Perhaps it's the apple, whether it's a cooking apple or not. I had to use a knife, fork and spoon with mine although it was delicious. I congratulate you for going all-out for Dorie this week - you crossed a lot of recipes off your list. I have never made the gougeres. I wish I had read Diane's Posat before I went after that apple with a paring knife.
ReplyDeleteI used water rather than apple cider, and I found the peels added extra juiciness to the liquid, so perhaps that's why. I really enjoyed this recipe, too, and will definitely be making it again.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post because you shared many of the thoughts that were going through my own mind. Luckily for you, you paid attention and did not switch cider over to cider vinegar like I did....but aside from that I mirrored your thoughts about the multitude of steps for what used to be a "fix it and forget it" type dessert. I am going to revisit it for redemption am still curious/concerned about cooking times. None of the Doristas efforts look very spoon soft and most of us have pretty dark stuffings. Not sure the answer but the ingredients are tasty enough for me to investigate further :) And super idea about that New Years Party- I would host more events if all I had to do was supply the booze and location !!
ReplyDeleteYou had a great catch up week! One or two of those and I'll be all caught up. We liked these apples quite a bit, even if they weren't completely tender. I think they need to be covered.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Guyla - covering the apples could have been the trick to getting them super tender. I basted aggressively but that wasn't enough I guess.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked them! I haven't made them yet but will during the week and I was thinking of using apple juice as well! and that trusty melon baller :) :)
ReplyDeleteWe loved the gougeres as well. mmm, I didn't use any honey bit I would have loved the caramelized bit!
ReplyDeleteWe loved these too - I think the peels also infused a little flavor in the baking liquid.
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