Baking by Hand (29 page)

ASSEMBLING THE TART

Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C, with the baking stone in place.

Egg wash the rim of the dough before filling. Pile all of your apple mixture into the tart dough, making sure it is evenly distributed right to the edge; it will seem like a lot. Bake directly on the baking stone for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and crumble the topping on top of the apples, breaking it apart with your fingers and layering it evenly over the top. Raise the pan to the upper shelf, rotating it as well. Continue to bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, rotating as necessary to create a uniformly golden crust—make sure to check the bottom as well. Bake until deep golden brown all over. Remove the ring immediately after it comes out of the oven to avoid sticking to the pastry, and move the tart to the cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. A scoop of vanilla ice cream certainly wouldn’t hurt, but this tart on its own packs a rich, buttery punch, so be forewarned!

CRUST

9 oz/250 g all-purpose flour

¾ tsp/5 g fine sea salt

6 oz/175 g unsalted butter

3 oz/85 ml ice water

FILLING

15 oz/425 g brown sugar

15 oz/425 g agave nectar or corn syrup

4 oz/100 g unsalted butter

¾ tsp/5 g fine sea salt

10 oz/280 eggs

3.25 oz/90 ml heavy cream

2.5 oz/70 ml bourbon

1 tbsp/15 ml vanilla extract

6 oz/175 g pecan halves

Egg wash, consisting of 1 beaten egg and a splash of water

For the filling, heat the brown sugar, agave, butter and salt in a heavy-bottom medium stainless steel pot. Bring it just to a boil and then remove from the heat. Cool this mixture down to 100°F–120°F/38°C–50°C. You can hasten the process by putting it in the fridge. If it gets too cool, though, it may solidify. You would then want to gently warm it to melt it before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Beat the eggs, cream, bourbon and vanilla in a bowl and add it all to the sugar mixture. Whisk it together until you have a smooth mixture.

ASSEMBLING THE PIE

Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C, with the baking stone in place.

Remove the chilled crust from the refrigerator and line the bottom of the crust with the pecan halves flat side down in a single layer. If they do not all fit, just hold them aside until after you have poured in the filling. Pour the filling into the crust and note that the pecans are floating to the top. Add the rest of the pecans to the surface of the custard until the surface is completely filled with nuts. Finally, egg wash the edge of the pie dough.

Carefully put your pie in the oven, directly on the baking stone, and immediately turn the oven down to 425°F/220°C. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The filling should be a little jiggly in the very center, but mostly set, with a spongy, firm feeling to the top. If the edge of the crust is getting too dark, cover it with aluminum foil. Cool completely and serve at room temperature.

CARDAMOM PATE SUCRE

8 oz/230 g all-purpose flour

2 oz/50 g granulated sugar

3 pinches fine sea salt

Scant ½ tsp/1 g finely ground cardamom seeds

5 oz/140 g cold unsalted butter

1 oz/30 ml heavy cream 0.75 oz/20 g egg yolks

SALTED CASHEWS

½ cup/120 ml water

2 tsp/14 g fine sea salt

3 oz/75 g raw cashews (halves and wholes)

SPICED CARAMEL

7.25 oz/210 ml heavy cream

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 tsp/3 g finely ground cardamom seed

7.85 oz/225 g granulated sugar

3 oz/90 ml water

1.5 oz/45 g unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp/5 g fine sea salt

1 tbsp/10 g sesame seeds

For the crust, mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cube your cold butter into ½-inch/1-cm chunks. Rub the butter into the flour-sugar mixture with your hands until a coarse cornmeal-type texture is created. There should be no lumps of butter, but the mixture should not have turned to a paste.

Combine the heavy cream and egg yolks and mix together briefly to combine with a fork or whisk. Then add the egg mixture to your dry mixture and combine it with your hands until an evenly mixed dough forms.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. Pate sucre can also be chilled overnight but will need to be warmed up before rolling out or it will crack. This dough can be left in the refrigerator for at least 3 days, well wrapped. It will also freeze well.

Roll the chilled dough out to ⅛ inch/3 mm thick and cut a 10-inch/25-cm circle out of the dough. Immediately fit this into an 8-inch/20-cm flan ring set on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Trim the excess to be flush with the edge of the ring. Chill the shell for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.

After chilling the shell, prick the bottom with a fork. Blind-bake the shell by placing aluminum foil or parchment into the cavity of the tart shell and filling it to the edge with dried beans or rice. Bake for 30 minutes, and then remove the weights and foil or parchment and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the shell is golden brown and completely dried out. Cool the shell completely before assembling the tart.

For the salted cashews, mix the water and salt together until the salt is dissolved. Put the nuts in a bowl and toss with the water mixture. Drain the nuts and toast at 325°F/190°C for 10 to 12 minutes, until they develop a golden hue. Cool completely.

For the spiced caramel, combine the cream, vanilla bean and cardamom in a small saucepan and bring just barely to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside to steep.

Combine the sugar and water in a large, clean saucepan over high heat. Making sure everything you are using to make the caramel is clean will help to ensure your sugar does not crystallize. Stir with a spatula to dissolve the sugar and bring this mixture to a boil. Once it is boiling, you will want to periodically wash down the sides of the pot with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent crystallization. It should develop an amber/caramel color.

Remove the vanilla beans from the cream when the caramel is almost at the right color. Slowly whisk the cream into the molten sugar, being careful you do not burn your hand on the steam that will erupt from the pot. Be sure to scrape down the pot the cream was in to get all the vanilla and cardamom that has settled to the bottom. You don’t want to leave that all behind! Continue to cook the caramel for no more than 1 minute, then remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter and salt. Cool completely before using.

ASSEMBLING THE TART

Place the cooled nuts in the cooled shell in a single layer. Pour about 6.5 ounces/180 g of the caramel over the nuts. It should come almost up to the top.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

Bake the tart for 15 to 20 minutes. You will know it is done when the caramel bubbles uniformly. Do not stop baking until you see it bubble, or the caramel will be too runny when cooled. Cool completely. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate if you want it set even firmer. Once it is cool, garnish with the sesame seeds along the outside edge of each tart in about a ½-inch/1-cm band. This tart can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE SHORT DOUGH

6.25 oz/175 g all-purpose flour

3.5 oz/100 g unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ¼ tsp/9 g fine sea salt

6.5 oz/180 g unsalted butter, softened

7.5 oz/215 g granulated sugar

¼ tsp/4 ml vanilla extract

0.5 oz/15 g egg yolks

FILLING

4.25 oz/120 g macadamia nuts

4.5 oz/130 g eggs

3 oz/75 g granulated sugar

4 oz/100 g brown sugar

¼ tsp/4 ml vanilla extract

¼ tsp/2 g fine sea salt

1.5 oz/45 g unsalted butter, melted

2.5 oz/65 g shredded sweetened coconut

1.5 oz/45 g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

½ cup/90 g chopped chocolate, melted just prior to garnishing

For the crust, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl. Next, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla extract into a large bowl with the sugar. Mix it with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until it is smooth and there are no lumps and a smooth paste has formed. Add the egg yolks and mix to combine. Add the dry ingredients and mix until all the ingredients are evenly combined to form a very dark, almost black, tart dough. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. This dough can also be chilled overnight, but will need to be warmed up before rolling it out or it will crack. If it does, however, it is easy to mold it back together by pushing it back with your fingertips. The chocolate short dough can be refrigerated for at least 3 days. It will also freeze well when wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

Roll the dough out to about ⅛ inch/3 mm thick on a floured surface and cut a 10-inch/25-cm circle. Immediately fit the circle into an ungreased 9-inch/23-cm metal pie pan; if you spray the pie pan, the dough will slip down the sides of the pan when baking. Repair any cracks if necessary with extra dough and your fingertips. If you leave the holes the very sticky filling will leak and cause your tart to stick to the pan. The edge of the dough should be flush with the inside edge of the pie pan lip and should not extend out onto the lip. Trim as needed. After fitting the shell into the pan, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or even overnight. Once the dough is chilled, prick the bottom with a fork to limit the bottom of the shell from bubbling up, as well as to cut down on shrinking.

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.

You do not need to blind-bake this shell with pie weights; the crust stays put! Bake for 12 minutes, rotate the pan and bake for about another 8 minutes. The smell of the chocolate crust will become fragrant and the crust should be dry. Cool completely before filling.

For the filling, toast the macadamia nuts for 8 minutes at 325°F/160°C, but be careful: These nuts burn easily. You want a lightly golden toasted hue, but nothing darker. Whisk the eggs, sugars, vanilla and salt together in a bowl until well combined. Add the melted butter, and stir until an even mixture is reached. Add the nuts, coconut and chocolate chips and stir to incorporate. Use immediately, or make in advance and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.