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Home / Destination / Europe / France / French cooking with apples and cream

French cooking with apples and cream

September 28, 2015 by Gretta Schifano 16 Comments

Expedia French World on a Plate Challenge: Tarte aux Pommes à la crème. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Expedia French World on a Plate Challenge: Tarte aux Pommes à la crème. Image copyright Gretta Schifano

Do you know what baking ‘blind’ means? I didn’t until this weekend when I took part in the Expedia World on a Plate Challenge. I now know that it means baking an empty pastry case before adding the filling.

Expedia World on a Plate Challenge

Each month Expedia’s World on a Plate Challenge focuses on the cuisine of a different part of the world: last month it was Italy, next month it’s Malta and this month it’s France. If you’d like to join in with the challenge, just tag pictures of your food creations with #expediaworldonaplate on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Normandy

Last year I went to Normandy which is in the North of France, a short hop across the Channel from England. Normandy is home to the Bayeux tapestry, Mont-St-Michel, the D-Day landing beaches, Monet’s home at Giverny and is the birthplace of William the Conqueror. It’s a fascinating place to visit and I really enjoyed my trip there.

Arromanches & Mulberry harbour, Normandy. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Arromanches & Mulberry harbour, Normandy. Copyright Gretta Schifano

The region is famous for its dairy products and also for its apples, so when I was asked to take part in the French World on a Plate Challenge I decided that I’d like to use a recipe featuring these ingredients, especially as we have lots of apples in the garden at the moment.

Tarte aux pommes à la crème

I contacted Maggie at the Normandy Tourist Board to ask her if she had any recipes for me and she kindly put me in touch with Sinéad Allart in France. Sinéad runs French country cookery holidays from her home on the Cherbourg Peninsula, and she sent me her recipe for Tarte aux pommes à la crème, which means cream and apple tart.

I very rarely bake anything and I had to ask Sinéad quite a few things about the recipe before I could start. I’ve edited the recipe which she sent me, to include her answers (things like the type of flour and sugar to use, as well as what exactly ‘blind’ baking entails) and I’ve added in some metric measurements, temperatures and timings to show how I actually made the tart. Although the recipe says that you need a cake tin I used a Pyrex glass one because we didn’t have a big enough tin, and because that was all that I could find in our local shops. It seemed to work well, so I guess that it’s fine to use Pyrex if you don’t have a cake tin.

The recipe took longer to make than I thought it would because, although the tart isn’t difficult to make, you have to do it in stages: make the pastry, chill it for an hour, bake it ‘blind’, add the filling, bake it again. For the ‘blind’ baking I used tin foil (as I had no baking parchment) and dried kidney beans and that seemed to work fine.

Tarte aux pommes à la crème. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Tarte aux pommes à la crème. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Verdict

We ate the tart warm from the oven, with cream, sitting at the kitchen table. I’m surprised that, despite my inexperience as a baker, the recipe worked and the tart tasted good. My husband says: ‘It was very tasty and looked good. It would be a nice thing to make for a dinner party.’ My daughter (not a fan of dairy) says: ‘It was nice. I liked the apples and the pastry but it was a bit too creamy for me.’ My son says: ‘It was yummy and sweet. Can you make it again?’

Disclosure: This post is in association with Expedia as part of their World On a Plate Challenge.

This is Sinéad’s recipe, edited by me.

Tarte aux pommes à la crème

Golden cream and apple tart

Ingredients: 1 Pâte Brisée shell (pre-baked and cooled), 3 large egg yolks, ¾ cup (175 ml), crème fraîche/heavy cream, 5 tbsp (60g) caster sugar, 4 cooking apples (about 1½ lbs/750g).

For the Pâte Brisée shell: 1 – 1¼cups/140 – 175g plain flour, 7 tbsp/105g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces, 1/8 tsp salt, 3 tbsp iced water.

You will need a 27cm loose bottomed cake tin.

To make the shell:

  • Place 1 cup of flour, the butter and salt in a food processor. Whiz for about 10 seconds, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Add iced water and pulse together about 6 – 8 times, until the pastry begins to hold together. Don’t let the pastry form a ball. Transfer to waxed paper (or cling film) and flatten into a disk.  Wrap and leave to ‘rest ‘ in the fridge for at least an hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.
  • On a lightly floured surface, carefully roll out the dough to a 12 inch/30cm circle. Transfer to a 10 ½ inch/27cm greased loose-bottomed cake tin. With your fingertips, carefully press the pastry into the tin and up the side. Trim the overhang, leaving about a 1-inch (2.5cm) edge. Tuck this inside the tin. Prick the base of the pastry case all over with a fork.
  • On top of the pastry, line the tin with baking parchment and fill with ceramic baking beans or dried pulses/ pasta. (This is ‘blind’ baking, to prevent the pastry from rising and from becoming soggy once the creamy filling is added.) Bake for 20 minutes until golden –brown around the edges and cool for at least 10 minutes before adding the filling.

For the tart:

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.
  • Place the egg yolks in a bowl and beat with a fork. Add crème fraîche and 3 tbsp sugar. Mix well and set aside.
  • Peel, core and slice the apples. Cut into quarters and, starting just inside the edge of the pastry shell, neatly layer the apple slices – slightly overlapping them – in two or three concentric circles, working towards the centre.  Pour cream over the apples and sprinkle on the rest of the sugar (2 tbsp).
  • Bake until set – this should take about 45 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Related

Categories: France, Recipes
Tags: French cooking, Normandy, tarte aux pommes

About Gretta Schifano

I'm a freelance journalist and blogger specialising in family travel with teenagers, trips when parents manage to travel without their kids, and 50+ travel. I also write about vegetarian travel, parenting teenagers, adoption, SEN, ADHD and anxiety. My work's been published by the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet and others. I've lived and worked in Italy and Spain and am now based in rural south-east England with my husband, adoptive and birth kids and our dog. I previously worked as a social action radio producer for the BBC.

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Comments

  1. Emma says

    October 7, 2015 at 11:10 am

    I think it looks delicious!!
    Emma recently posted…What will you do with the extra hour?My Profile

    Reply
  2. Jaime Oliver says

    October 3, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    oh this sounds lush! i love anything with pastry, apples and cream so this is right up my street 🙂
    Jaime Oliver recently posted…Bedwetting – Busted With DryNites!My Profile

    Reply
  3. Abi - Angel Eden Blog says

    October 3, 2015 at 10:31 am

    Wow looks yummy!!
    Abi – Angel Eden Blog recently posted…Make your own word game with Bostik!My Profile

    Reply
  4. Gemma says

    October 3, 2015 at 7:28 am

    This looks yummy, makes me wish I liked cooked apple!
    Gemma recently posted…Treasure BasketsMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Monika @mumonthebrink says

    October 1, 2015 at 1:21 am

    Oh I love the idea of World on a Plate challenge. After each holiday we try to replicate some dishes from the country we visited. It’s an excellent way of bringing back the memories from the places.

    Your timing for posting this is also great, as just yesterday my friend brought a bounty of apples from the tree in her garden.
    Monika @mumonthebrink recently posted…Capturing memories in times of changeMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Lauren says

    October 1, 2015 at 12:12 am

    Mmm…I could easily eat a big slice of that right now. Looks delicious!
    Lauren recently posted…Living Arrows 39/52My Profile

    Reply
  7. Kara says

    September 30, 2015 at 6:04 am

    Wow that looks delicious. My tummy is rumbling now
    Kara recently posted…A teenage milestone – learning to shave!My Profile

    Reply
  8. Jen Walshaw (@Mum_TheMadHouse) says

    September 29, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    This was my mum’s favorite dessert. We took her to Normandy just after my dad died and she had some everyday
    Jen Walshaw (@Mum_TheMadHouse) recently posted…Spider Web Cupcakes – cooking with kidsMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Erica Price says

    September 29, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    That does look gorgeous. I love cooking with apples and I do associate that sort of cooking with that part of France.
    Erica Price recently posted…Riverford Recipe BoxesMy Profile

    Reply
  10. Sarah Bailey says

    September 29, 2015 at 11:55 am

    Oh my goodness what a delicious sounding desert. x
    Sarah Bailey recently posted…What does your desk say about you?My Profile

    Reply
  11. Anne says

    September 29, 2015 at 10:04 am

    One of my favourites, you did really well, especially making the pastry too. I love making pastry but I do cheat sometimes and have ready made at hand when time is short.
    Anne recently posted…Miffy’s Adventures- Win a Sensory MiffyMy Profile

    Reply
  12. Sonia says

    September 29, 2015 at 8:46 am

    Oh wow that looks absolutely delicious, I could just eat a big slice now x
    Sonia recently posted…Instagram Weekly 21st-27th SeptemberMy Profile

    Reply
  13. sam fernley says

    September 29, 2015 at 7:38 am

    Anything with apples and cream is a winner with me. I have done blind baking in the past but now risk a soggy bottom instead most of the time 🙂
    sam fernley recently posted…Blood moonMy Profile

    Reply
  14. Sinead says

    September 28, 2015 at 9:04 am

    Well done. Looks great !

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      September 28, 2015 at 3:02 pm

      Thanks for sharing your recipe Sinead!

      Reply
      • Sinead says

        September 29, 2015 at 6:58 pm

        My pleasure!

        Reply

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This is a personal blog written and edited by me, Gretta Schifano. Sometimes I’m given products or sent on trips to review, but I always make this clear and give my honest opinion. See my About page for full details.

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