Apple & cinnamon tartlets (tartelettes)

Its great to be working from home.  I've been doing that the past week as the office is closed for renovations and its been fantastic!  I can enjoy my morning coffee and breakfast without having to rush out of the house to catch the bus.  I make conference calls, check emails and work on materials in between a little bit of bloomberg tv time (keeping in touch with market news) and kitchen time (making myself lunch & snacks).  

The only downside is my meal times gets a little mixed up.  Lunch time is bascially "whenever I feel hungry" instead of the usual 12.30pm at the office.  And one evening when Herr Scherrer had a night out with the guys while I stayed in, on a strange whim I had apple & cinnamon tartelettes for dinner. =P

Given it was an impromptu decision I was glad to have some leftover pâte brisée in the fridge which was just nice for a couple of tartelettes.  I sliced up some apples while resting the rolled out dough in mini tart pans in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Tossed the apples in some lemon juice, sprinkled over sugar and cinnamon and it was good to go!

Recipe below makes 4 tartelettes

For the pâte brisée:

250g cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

125g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

65ml cold water

For the filling:

4 small to medium size apples

sugar & ground cinnamon (to taste)

2 tsp lemon juice

Sift flour, salt and sugar together into large bowl.  Add butter to sifted flour mixture and cut it into the flour with a pastry scraper, until pieces of butter are the size of peas.  Form a well in the center of the butter & flour mixture and pour water into it.  Quickly incorporate the water into the butter & flour mixture until the dough holds together, adding additional water if required.  Gather dough into a disc / ball and wrap it in plastic and refridgerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out dough on floured surface until about 3mm thick.  Cut out 4 circles 2 inches wider in diameter than the tartlet pans.  Lift circles into the tartlet pans, gently pushing the dough into the bottom and against the edges, cut off any excess around the edges to neaten. Chill in refridgerator for at least 30 minutes.

Slice apples thinly, toss in  lemon juice, sugar and ground cinnamon.  Arrange apples neatly on top of rested dough.  Sprinkle additional sugar and cinnamon to your taste.

Bake in preheated 190C oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

Galette aux pommes (Apple galette)

I do realize its been over 2 month since my last post. Work has gotten the better of me lately... This weekend I got back into the kitchen with a vengeance! I made chicken cordon bleu on Friday for dinner (no pictures unfortunately as we were hungry!), linzer cookie dough on Saturday (stored in the freezer in advance preparation of some christmas cookie baking coming up), and a galette aux pommes for tea on Sunday which I'm sharing with you here.

I love how free form galettes can be. It can be made with a variety of fruits or fruit compote and in almost any shape one prefers. There are also both sweet and savory versions. To keep it as a light snack I made this one without any cream filling.

Recipe below adapted from Australian weekly's "Pies & Tarts"

Ingredients:
- 300g pâte feuilletée
- 2 large apples
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
- 30g butter, chopped
- 1 tbsp fruit glaze (or apricot jam)

Method:
Preheat oven to 240 C.
Roll puff pastry into shape of your choice on a lightly floured surface till around 3mm thick. Place onto oven tray and turn edges in around 1.5cm, pressing down lightly. Set pastry aside. Remove core from apples and slice them into thin pieces. Toss apple slices in lemon juice. Arrange apple slices on pastry. Sprinkle sugar over apple slices and dot with half the butter.
Reduce oven to 190C, place galette in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Dot with remaining butter and bake for a further 25 - 30 minutes until browned.
Brush hot galette with warmed fruit glaze (or apricot jam that has been warmed and sieved).
If desired, serve warm with ice cream.

Pumpkin & apple muffin, with raisins & walnuts

Yes, you read the title right! This is one muffin filled with plenty of goodness! Made with pumpkin & apple purees, plus raisins and walnuts to round off the yummy-ness... And, there's no fat used in this recipe. Convinced? I hope so... hahaha...

Following recipe makes 9 medium sized muffins:

Ingredients:

210g plain flour
260 to 280g white sugar (adjust based on personal preference)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon (adjust based on personal preference)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground cloves (adjust based on personal preference)
2 eggs
290g pumpkin puree
80g apple puree
40g chopped walnuts
90g raisins

Method:
Preheat oven to 175 C. Grease muffin pans or line with muffin cups. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ground cloves together in a bowl. Separately mix the eggs, pumpkin, and apple puree together smooth. Add wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix till just combined. Be careful not to over stir. Stir in carefully the raisins and walnuts. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin pans or cups. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.