APPLE AND BLACK GRAPE BANDE AUX FRUITS…& BLOGGERAID

This fall, BloggerAid…Changing the Face of Famine, a dedicated group of food bloggers will make their mark on global hunger and kitchens around the world when they release “The BloggerAid Cookbook.” The proceeds from the sale of this cookbook will benefit Friends of WFP. It’s thanks to this beautiful, dedicated and hard-working group, and to Absolute Press, UK, one of the UK’s leading publishers of food and drink books, that I am fortunate enough to review ‘INDULGE – 100 Perfect Desserts’ by Claire Clark, as part of a fun event BloggerAid is hosting. Agreements have been reached to partner cookbook publishers with BloggerAid…Changing the Face of Famine to offer members participation in book and product reviews. Thank you BloggerAid…

INDULGE … a book that brought the whole house buzzing with sweet excitement. It’s gorgeous and utterly delicious; an enviable book to own! The son immediately said…’Now you have 100 more desserts to try Mama’!! My daughter stopped & stared at every page, falling at my feet begging me to bake stuff out of it. Imagine the pressure!! She even cleared her room, and wrote down things-to- do list! Such is the power of food!

Leafing through the book made me want to try everything as soon as possible. Claire Clark is counted among one of the world’s best pastry chefs, and has been a celebrated chef at The French Laundry. She has an easy style of writing, & a personal touch which offers a little culinary connection with each recipe. The book is conveniently divided into different sections – biscuits and cookies, cakes, pastry, meringues, desserts, mousses and jellies, puddings, ices and petit fours. Each recipe has an inspiration, intriguing attention to detail, and beautiful presentation. There’s something for everyone!

About the book … “It’s aimed at people with a passion for pastry – domestic cooks, mainly. But then when I’d finished it I thought, ‘this is a student book’, because all the recipes I’ve included are my ‘first’ recipes, including the basic building blocks I use all the time,” she says. “If you want a recipe for ganache, it’s there. If you want a strudel dough, or a custard recipe or Battenberg recipe, they’re there as well.”

At the beginning of each section you can find an all important talk through of basic processes, equipment, & common follies we tend to commit. Claire is generous to share her experiences, and brought many smiles to my face during the course of reading the book. The time she blew up the pastry oven, brought some tiles down from the roof, getting blacked out in the process & reaching hospital, had me in shock, & then, fits of laughter. She honed her craft under legendary Swiss patissiers Ernest Bachmann and John Huber, and served as pastry chef at The French Laundry in California, which is among the state’s best known and loved restaurants. Her book is a perfect bed time read to ensure sweet dreams!

The recipes vary in levels of difficulty & complexity. She offers cookies easy as breeze, a minimalistic pudding on one end of the spectrum, and an all out stunning Opera Cake on the other. There’s something too to match every occasion. Of course I skidded to a halt the minute I saw the macarons page. The current obsession still very much there! Bookmarking hopelessly … macarons, eccles cakes, apple strudel, franscutti, apple bande aux fruits, apple charlotte, crème caramel….apple anything got precedence actually. After all, it’s FALL!

The book is exciting, and Claire’s write up reflects it beautifully. ” I wanted this book to sum up everything I love about my occupation. To be extravagant, luxurious, serious but playful, decadent, rich & truly irresistible.” I had to bake something quick. A book as good as this is entirely gawkable! A classic! I sat immersed in it for long periods of time, wanting to make everything in a hurry. But the flu got the better of me. Despite the racking cough & bouts of high fever, I still hit the kitchen to INDULGE! I would have liked to make something chocolatey (the book offers enough options), but having just finished off a rather decadent round of double chocolate ice-cream, decided to go with fruit. Apples & pears galore occupy the fruit basket in my kitchen, so I joyfully turned to the Apple & Blackberry Bande Aux Fruit. No blackberries in India, but me the queen of substitutes, always finds a way out. I used dried black grapes instead, soaked in boiling water with a little sugar & 1 tsp of almond essence, as suggested by Pamela @ Cooking Ninja when we had been discussing blueberry muffins on twitter earlier. Great idea because I got the look, and the taste too. What did we like about the dessert? Everything. A beautiful pastry; easy to make, well behaved, light & indulgent. The frangipane had just the right amount of sweetness, the almond taste enhanced every so beautifully by the essence, the apples most welcome with autumn creeping up here, & the berries or grapes adding to the dessert. I find the use of the rectangular tart tin entirely charming & am always looking out to use it. I made the tart during the day, & left it out at room temperature. We had it at night for dessert with unsweetened whipped cream, and black grape compote, which added just the right bit of luxury to it. You can also serve it with Creme Anglaise as the author suggests. The dessert got me high fives from everyone who had it, me included. I had some extra pastry dough & almond cream left over, and made a small tart with it, using a sliced pear on top. Since this was a review, I adapted it just minimally for certain ingredient substitutes, otherwise following the recipe. This is the first of my adventures into this beautiful book by an outstanding author I have recently discovered … and this will not be my last. The only thing that will hold me back, if at all, is the large hearted use of butter, even in biscuits and cookies, but then, that’s what being indulgent is all about!

Apple and Black Grapes Bande Aux Fruits
adapted minimally from Indulge by Claire Clark

Ingredients:
50gms black grapes (or blackberries)
2 apples
3-4 tbsps apricot glaze
2-3 tbsps icing sugar
1 tbsps Calvados or cider
For the sweet pastry
110gms softened unsalted butter
50gm Castor sugar
1 medium egg
1/2 capful pure vanilla extract
210gm plain flour
a pinch of salt

For the almond cream

Ingredients:
125gm softened unsalted butter
125 gm Castor sugar (I used powdered vanilla sugar)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
40 gm plain flour
125gm ground almonds
Method:
You will need an oblong tart tin for the recipe. I had extra dough so made one small round 4″ tartlet as well, and 1 extra pie shell.

Pastry:
Make the pastry in the food processor by placing all the ingredients in the bowl, and pulsing gently,till they form a soft but not sticky dough. Flatten to about a 1/2″ disk, wrap in cling wrap, and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Almond Cream:
Cream the butter & sugar till pale and fluffy.
Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating well between each addition.
Mix in the zest & vanilla extract.
Sift the almond & flour together on a piece of parchment paper, and add to the creamed mix in one go.
Fold in the dry ingredients.

Assembling:

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface. Use to line the oblong tart tin, pressing it well into the base and up the sides. lightly roll the pin over the top of the tin to remove the excess pastry.
Spoon the almond cream into the lined tart tin so it is about two-thirds full, and level with a spatula or palette knife. Set aside in a cool place, but not the fridge, while you prepare the apples.
Peel & core the apples, cut in half, and then slice thinly, keeping them together in a half shape. Place the apple halves onto the pastry cream, pressing on them lightly, so they fan out slightly. Dot the black grapes around the apples.
Bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry is brown & the almond cream springs back when touched. Check to see if it’s cooked by inserting a small knife into the centre of the flan; it should come out clean.

Bring the apricot preserve to a boil with 1 tbsp of water and pass through a fine sieve. Brush this over the tart to seal in the moisture & give it a shine.
Now combine the icing sugar & Calvados / cider in a small bowl until smooth & clear; it should be runny. Brush the mixture on top of the apricot glaze.
Serve the tart was with lashings of hot Creme Anglaise or unsweetened whipped cream & compote.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥