Categories
SOUPS/SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

Apple and Calvados biscuit with whipped fresh cream

This cake/tart has it’s origin in France and was originally created without the apples — a hard and dry biscuit that would last for months for the sailors at sea.  But bakers found other uses for it and it developed into this delightful soft biscuit with layers of batter and apples.

APPLE BISCUIT

You will need:
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and quartered
45 g/1½ oz butter
2 tablespoons/30 ml Calvados (apple brandy)
200 g/7 oz flour
3 tablespoons/45 ml cornstarch
185 g/6.5 oz caster sugar
salt
2 teaspoons/10 ml cinnamon, freshly ground
1 teaspoon/5 ml vanilla extract
2 teaspoons/10 ml baking powder
½ cup/125 ml fresh orange juice
2/3 cup/150 ml peanut oil
2 eggs
45 g/1½ oz chopped almonds
icing sugar for sprinkling

Once you have scraped the seeds from the vanilla pod, store the empty pod in an airtight container filled with sugar. This will provide you with vanilla flavored sugar in just a few days.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/56°F.
Grease a 23 cm/9 in diameter cake tin.
Cut each apple quarter into 3 slices.  Melt the butter in a nonstick pan and brown the apple slices for 1 minutes on each side.  Pour the Calvados over the apples and ignite.  Shake the pan until the flame dies down and the Calvados has reduced to almost nothing, then remove the apples with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool.

Combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, orange juice, oil and eggs. Mix well until the mixture is smooth, then pour one-third of the batter into the greased cake tin.

Arrange half of the apple slices on top, cover them with half of the remaining batter, then arrange the rest of the apples on top and cover with the remaining batter.  Smooth the surface with a spatula and sprinkle with the almonds.  Sprinkle the top generously with the icing sugar and bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out.

To serve:
Serves with custard or freshly whipped cream.

STELLA's avatar

By STELLA

I have had no formal chef’s training. Classical piano was my parents’ choice, and that took care of the first 20 years of my life. Journalism and radio followed (my own choices, this time), and these opened many doors for me into different countries, people, cultures — and, of course, foods. In a six week series on radio I used it as a platform for my love of food and shared lots of interesting recipes and food news with listeners.
My earliest memories of food come from the family kitchen at home; I can still remember the wonderful smells of the dishes my mother prepared. I became aware of the flavors of her creations at an early age. Some I enjoyed and preferred, while others depressed me with their lack of interesting flavors. My mother was a good cook, but not a gourmet, and sadly this often showed. What I did appreciate was that she always involved me in the preparation, sharing her knowledge of nutrition, flavor, color, and the harmonies of each plate she dished up. She was also a genius with leftovers and quick meals when unexpected guests arrived. This is one of the things that stands out in my mind, and it inspired me to create wonderful dishes from leftover foods myself.

I carried on with the tradition of carefully planning meals to combine nutrition, color and flavor, while at the same time offering variety and elegant presentation. In the process, I developed a passion for seeking out the best available products, adhering to each season’s offerings, and treating it with the respect it deserves, which eventually became part of my daily culinary life and travels. I did these things not because I wanted to become a chef, but to satisfy myself, family and friends with creations of gorgeous food and exciting flavors. All of which, I hope, is reflected in this blog.

One reply on “Apple and Calvados biscuit with whipped fresh cream”

[…] and pine nut sauce Chicken and prawn pilaf with Chorizo sausage, tomatoes, green beans and almonds Apple and Calvados biscuit with whipped fresh cream *** Quail’s eggs and prawn set in aspic molds with young salad leaves and tomato and thyme […]

Like

Leave a comment