Apple Tart

I had a virus a few weeks ago which resulted in me spending five days in bed.  In the good moments, I was able to catch up on some reading.  For years, my Dad has been encouraging me to read "Scoop" by Evelyn Waugh.  It is a satire, and revolves around the adventures of William Boot, a nature columnist, who is mistakenly sent to a fictional African state as a war correspondent in the 1930s.  It wasn't quite my cup of tea as some of the descriptions went on for ages, but there were some very funny passages, including a couple involving a goat, which I've copied below.  For context, the goat was tethered at Frau Dressler's pensione where Boot was staying. 

"The milch-goat was allowed a narrower radius; those who kept strictly to to the causeway were safe, but she never reconciled herself to this limitation and, day in, day out, essayed a series of meteoric onslaughts on the passers-by, ending, at the end of her rope, with a jerk which would have been death to an animal of any other species.  One day the rope would break; she knew it, and so did Frau Dressler's guests."

And then later...

"The milch-goat looked up from her supper of waste paper; her perennial optimism quickened within her, and swelled to a great and mature confidence; all day she had shared the exhilaration of the season, her pelt had glowed under the newborn sun; deep in her heart she too had made holiday, had cast off the doubts of winter and exulted among the crimson flowers; all day she had dreamed gloriously; now in the limpid evening she gathered her strength, stood for a moment rigid, quivering from horn to tail; then charged, splendidly, irresistibly, triumphantly, the rope snapped and the welter-weight champion of the Adventist University of Alabama sprawled on his face amid the kitchen garbage."

The reason why I found this so funny was not because of the cocktail of over the counter flu medication I had taken, but because it reminded me of an interaction I had with a goat in Ravensthorpe.  My Dad was working down there, and we had gone to spend some time with him during the school holidays.  After settling into the motel, I spied an untethered goat in a neighbouring field and immediately wanted to befriend it.  For some reason, my Mother had fortuitously packed a loaf of bread, and I skipped gleefully over to my soon to be new best friend with a few slices.  I got through the fence and held out the bread, and the goat knocked it out of my hand.  I bent over to pick it up and the goat head-butted me in the bottom.  We weren't friends after that.

Speaking of my childhood, here is another favourite from my Mother's repertoire - Tarte aux Pommes - from The Margaret Fulton Cookbook.  It was always a Saturday night post-roast winter staple. 

Apple Tart (adapted from The Margaret Fulton Cookbook)

For the pastry

250g plain flour
100g unsalted butter (softened)
100g icing sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs

For the filling

7 medium Granny Smith apples
1 tbsp water
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup brandy
30g unsalted butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp raw caster sugar

For the glaze

2 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp water

Method

For the pastry, put the flour, icing sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse lightly until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the eggs, and pulse until the mixture is just combined.  Do not overmix, otherwise the pastry will become leathery.  Turn out onto a floured surface.

Shape the pastry into a disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  When firm, roll out and line a 22cm tart tin.  As pastry shrinks, I always leave a little bit extra around the edges and the cut off any excess after it has come out of the oven. 

Put the tin in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius, and blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes. 

Remove the pastry weights and then bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry is a light golden colour. 

In the meantime, make the filling.  Peel and core five of the apples, and cut them into chunks.  Put the apples in a large saucepan with the brandy, water, 15g of the butter, and caster sugar.

Cover, and simmer on a gentle heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, and puree in a food processor.  Spread the puree into the tart shell. 

Peel and core the remaining two apples, and slice them thinly. Toss them with the raw caster sugar and lemon juice, and then lay them in a circular pattern over the puree. 

Melt the remaining butter and brush over the apple slices.  Bake the tart at 190 degrees celsius until the apples are golden brown (about 40 minutes).  I sometimes increase the heat to 200 degrees in the last 10 minutes to encourage caramelisation. 

To make the glaze, heat the jam and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  When smooth and clear, spread over the warm tart.

This tart is a winner, although as a child it always used to give me a headache.  Mum said it was because of the brandy.  The alcohol cooks out, so it is just flavouring rather than a potential child protection issue.  Perhaps it was just too much for my sensitive goat-loving constitution.  It certainly doesn't give me a headache now.

Mothers Day - Fabric Covered Bag

I always make something for my Mum on Mothers' Day.  In the early years, Mum graciously received paper flowers, seedpod jewellery, objets de macaroni, and cards with lots of glitter, silver stars and some crazy texta work.  I also occasionally made Mum breakfast in bed.  When I was seven, I remember making her an egg and toast combination from a children's cookbook I had borrowed from the library.  It involved buttering two slices of bread, cutting a hole in the middle of one slice using a biscuit cutter, putting this on top of the other slice, cracking an egg into the hole and then baking it in a hot oven.  There may have been a tomato or tomato paste involved, but that part is a bit of a blur.  However, I vividly recall getting up early and making this dish on my own, which was a big deal as it involved putting the gas oven on all by myself.   The dish worked out a treat, but it was back in the day when Pure and Simple baking spray was popular and I had sprayed that oven tray within an inch of its life.  I proudly took it into Mum, who was her usual gracious self, but did mention a certain Pure and Simple flavour permeating the bread.  I learnt an important lesson that day. 

So, for today, Mothers Day 2012, I made this cherry crumble cheesecake of awesomeness from Dan Lepard's book "Short and Sweet - The Best of Home Baking". 

In the gift wrapping department, I continued with my use of fabric, this time covering a large gift bag with a 1930's inspired floral print.

I started by measuring the front, base and sides of the bag, and cut the fabric to size.

I removed the existing handles and, using craft glue, stuck the fabric onto the bag, beginning with the base.

I then made some holes where the handles used to be, and threaded through some matching ribbon, tying a knot at each end.

Just the right kind of gift bag for a dressing gown.

Wrapping with Fabric

I'm becoming increasingly interested in using fabric to wrap gifts.  Fabric is recyclable, doesn't require sticky tape, and there are lots of designs to choose from.  People in Japan have been using fabric to wrap gifts for years.  Furoshiki is a traditional square-shaped cloth used to wrap objects of different shapes and sizes, and tied in interesting ways.  I'm not at the furoshiki stage quite yet, but I thought I would see what I could do with some denim/cotton fabric I had lying around.

I started by making a pompom.  I cut a strip of fabric, about 6.5cm wide.

 I then cut some denim tagliatelle of about 1cm in width.

I traced some circles onto cardboard and cut them out.

I put the circles together, then wound the fabric once between the inner and outer circles and tied a knot.

I continued to wind the fabric between the inner and outer circles, joining strips together as I went, until I couldn't get any more fabric through the inner hole. 

I then cut around the circle in between the cardboard and tied a knot in the middle.

I wrapped the gift in a piece of the same fabric in the usual way, fixing the ends with a strip of fabric tied in the centre.  I then tied the pom-pom onto the strip of fabric to complete the look.

The stiffness of the fabric creates a nice pompom and the frayed edges give it a bit of interest.

Using fabric to wrap gifts is win-win.  The recipient can recycle the wrapping, and you reduce your fabric stash giving you room to buy more.