Tag Archive for 'pudding'

Apple inside-out cake

Published
by
marc
on April 9, 2008
in Dessert and Fall
. 2 Comments

Apple inside out cake

Mutsu apples are one of my favorite variety. Crisp, green-skinned and juicy, they fall somewhere between a Fuji and a Granny Smith. This makes them delicious to eat and equally suited for baking.

I set out to make an apple upside-down cake, with lots of gooey appley goodness on top. It was late though and mixing a proper cake batter felt like a little more work than I was up for. Then I remembered a recipe from domestic goddess Nigella Lawson. “Easy sticky-toffee pudding” it’s called and as I pulled Nigella Bites off the bookshelf it handily fell open to page 216 and that luscious photo of butter on brown sugar melted together to make a saucey cake. For those of you that haven’t tried it, it has a thin creviced layer of cake under which is a molten pool of warm sugary goo.

Inspired, I shut the the book and set-off to make my apple inside-out cake.

1 apple peeled, cored and cut into cubes
2 Tbs calvados or good quality brandy
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 C dark brown sugar packed
2 Tbs butter cut into small pieces

1 C flour
1/2 C dark brown sugar packed
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 C melted butter
1 egg
1/2 C milk

1/2 C dark brown sugar packed
2 C boiling water

Heat the oven to 375 degees.

Toss together the first 7 ingredients in a 2 L baking dish making sure it’s all distributed evenly.

Put the flour, 1/2 C brown sugar and baking powder in a bowl and whisk together.

Melt the butter, whisk the egg in, then whisk the milk in. Pour this into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (it’s okay if it’s still lumpy). Spread this over the apples.

Top with 1/2 C brown sugar and pour the boiling water on top. Put it in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. When it’s done, there will be some spongy cake on top with crevices bubbling up molten sugar.

Serve warm with a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream.

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Pain perdu (real French toast)

Published
by
marc
on March 30, 2008
in Brunch and Dessert
. 5 Comments

Pain Perdu

I first came across this dish at Landmarc in Tribeca. It’s somewhere between “French” toast and bread pudding and with a caramelized buttery exterior and a custardy interior it makes for a sinful Sunday morning brunch.

I used some good sandwich bread this morning (pictured), but this really works best with a crusty baguette. If custard dipped, butter fried bread isn’t quite rich enough for you, try putting some crisp bacon on top and drizzle maple syrup over that during its last few minutes in the oven.

2 pieces of baguette or other firm bread about 4″ x 3″ x 2″ each

3/4 C whole milk
1/4 C cream
1/4 C sugar
1 extra large egg
1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbs butter

The night before you want to eat this, whisk the milk, cream, sugar, egg and vanilla together until smooth. Put the bread in a large ziplock bag and pour in the custard mixture. Make sure the bread is well coated then squeeze out as much of the air from the bag as you can (without squashing the bread) and seal the bag. Put it in the fridge and turn it over once after a few hours.

The next morning, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Then heat an oven proof pan large enough to accommodate both pieces of bread over medium heat. Drop the butter in and let it melt.

Take the bread out of the bag and place it in the pan. Once it’s brown on that side, turn it to another side. Depending on how many sides your bread has, repeat until all flat surfaces of your bread is browned.

Pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the middle of the bread reads 170 degrees. You can also tell if it’s done or not by cutting a little slit into the middle of the bread and squeezing, if liquid custard mixture comes out it’s not done.

Give it an ample dusting of powdered sugar and serve with a wedge of lemon or some maple syrup.

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