French Apple Tart (tarte aux pommes)

I took the kids to catch a movie yesterday. Before the movie started, we visited the library to kill some time. Found this nice French Desserts recipe book in the shelf and was immediately attracted by this no-frill, simple looking French Apple Tart. Without hesitation, I borrowed the book and baked the tart in the late night. I brought the whole tart to office for a farewell lunch today. Yes, another farewell in the office. :(

  

The 3-hour effort taken to bake the tart was well-paid off. I especially love the natural sweetness of the tart filling which is actually apple puree. This is a tasty and healthy dessert to enjoy over a cup of tea.

 

Recipe for French Apple Tart (tarte aux pommes)

Source: French Desserts by Laura Washburn

Sweet Pastry (pate brisee) For the Tart Shell:

• 200g plain flour
• 1 ½ tsp caster sugar
• 100g cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• A pinch of salt
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten for egg wash
• A loose-based tart tin, 27 cm diameter

1. Place flour, sugar, butter and salt in a mixing bowl, use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until the dough become coarse crumbs; add 3 tablespoons cold water and mix the dough with the pastry cutter to combine.
2. Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, pat into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap in the plastic wrap and chill for 30-60 minutes.
3. Place the dough ball in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and roll it flat until slightly larger than the tart tin. Carefully transfer the pastry into the tart tin. Pressing gently into the sides. To trim the excess pastry, roll a rolling pin over the top, using the edge of the tart tin as a cutting surface. Tidy up the edges and refrigerate until firm, 30-60 minutes.
4. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, line with aluminium foil and baking beans. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, discard the foil and baking beans, brush the surface of the half-baked tart shell with egg white to form a protective coating to prevent the tart shell from being soggy after the fillings are added.
5. Bake the uncovered tart shell for another 10-15 minutes at 180 degree C until golden. Let the tart shell cool slightly before filling.

For the Tart Filling:

• 3 apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 10g unsalted butter
• 4 tbsp water
• 1 egg white

1. Place all ingredients except the egg white in a saucepan. Cook over small fire, stirring often until soften, about 10-15 minutes. Blend the mixture with the beaten egg white to form apple puree.
2. Spread the puree evenly in the tart shell.

For the Tart Topping:

• 3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 15g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

1. Arrange the apple slices in a circle, slightly overlapping each other, around the edge of the tart.
2. Repeat for an inner circle, trimming the slices slightly so they fit. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
3. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C until just  browned and tender, about 25 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steamed Dual-Color Buns (双色馒头)

My love for all things matcha has led me to make this white and green steamed bun last night when I needed to whip up something for our Saturday’s stay-at-home breakfast.  This is an easy Chinese steam bun that I have made several times. The recipe is adapted from “三杯面粉“  by  连爱卿.

The buns are very soft with nice green-tea flavour and appearance.

Steamed Dual-Color Buns Recipe

Ingredients

• 300g flour (I used all purpose flour though I think Hong Kong flour would yield better looking buns)
• 3g baking powder
• 3g instant yeast
• 30g caster sugar
• 160cc milk
• 15g cooking oil
• 2g match powder

Methods

1. Mix all dry ingredients (except matcha powder) together and make a well.
2. Pour in the milk and mix.
3. Knead the mixture into a dough and add in cooking oil. Continue to knead by hands until the dough become smooth and non-sticky.
4. Form the dough into a ball, place in a big mixing bowl, smooth side up and cover with a cloth. Let rest for 15 minutes before use.
5. Divide the dough into 2 parts. Sprinkle the matcha powder on 1 of them and knead the ball until the matcha powder completely blended into the dough. Let rest for 20 minutes.
6. Working on each dough ball separately, roll the ball into a flat long stretch about 20 cm long.
7. Sprinkle some water on the surface of one of them, place the other one on top. Roll with rolling pin to make the 2-colored pieces of dough stick together into one single piece.
8. Using your hands, roll up the dough lengthwise to form a cylinder roll
9. Cut the roll into 8 equal parts and place each of them on a piece of baking paper. Let rest for 20 minutes until each bun doubled in size
10. Place the buns into a bamboo steamer and steam over medium heat for 12 minutes.

 This is my submission for Aspiring Bakers #8 - Bread Seduction, hosted by thesweetylicious.

Hakka Abacus Beads (客家算盘子)

Hakka Abacus Beads (客家算盘子) is one of the well-known traditional cuisines of the Hakka people. Although the preparation of this dish using a dough formed of tapioca flour and yam is rather time-consuming, I made this once every few months as the dish is my family's favorite. It also allows me and my daughters to work together in kneading the little bead-shaded balls.

I made this last month for Mother’s Day pot luck at my mother-in-law’s place. She is a true blue Hakka. Hence, a home-made Hakka Abacus Beads dish is the best dish for her. J

Recipe for Hakka Abacus Beads (客家算盘子)

Ingredients:

• 450g yam
• 225g Tapioca Flour (茨粉)
• 90g boiling water (adjust the amount of water accordingly to the texture of the dough)
• 150g minced pork
• Some Chinese mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin slices
• A handful of dried shrimp, soaked and chopped finely
• Some Chinese black fungus, soaked and cut into thin slices
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic

Seasonings:

• Appropriate quantities of white pepper, light soya sauce, fish sauce, according to your taste
• A few drops of dark soya sauce to add color to the dish 

Cooking Steps:

1. Remove the skin of yam and cut into little cubes.
2. Steam over high heat for 30 minutes or until soften to mash.
3. Mash the soften yam cubes into yam paste.
4. While the paste is still hot but cooled down enough to handle by hands, add in tapioca flour and boiling water and knead into dough. The dough should be towards the dry side but moist enough to hold together to form a big dough ball.
5. With clean hands, pinch small amount of the dough and roll into small balls, about the size of a marble.
6. Use your thumb and index finger; gently press the centre of each bead ball to make an indented hole on two sides of the ball. Now, you can see that the marble has turned into little grey abacus beadJ. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.
7. To cook the balls, bring a pan of water to boil, gently drop in the balls over several batches (do not place too many balls inside at one go. Otherwise, they will stick together). Stir to prevent sticking together. When the balls float up the surface of the boiling water, they are done. Scoop them up and place them in a big pot of cold tap water until they are ready for stir-frying.
8. To stir fry the balls, heat up a wok and sauté the garlic, dried shrimp, Chinese mushroom, black fungus and the minced pork. Stir fry until they are cooked and lightly brown.
9. Scoop the cooked abacus beads from the cold water and add them into the wok, give them a good stir to combine all ingredients, add in seasonings and some water if necessary so that the content are sticky but not too dry. Continue to stir fry for one or two minutes. Off the fire and dish up.

Tuck in while warm and enjoy!