French Classics Made Easy (46 page)

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fruit eau-de-vie or brandy (optional; see Notes)

2 pounds fruit (apples, apricots, cherries, pears, peaches, or prune plums)

Apricot or Currant Jelly Glaze (
page 354
), hot

1.
Preheat the oven to 500°F with the oven rack in the lowest position. Lightly butter a 9½- to 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Line the pan with the tart pastry (see “How to Line a Tart Pan,”
page 65
). Prick the bottom of the pastry several times with the point of a sharp knife to prevent it from puffing during baking. Refrigerate or freeze the shell until you are ready to fill and bake it.

2.
Using a food processor, grind the almonds and sugar into a fine powder. Add the flour and egg yolks, creating a paste. Add the milk slowly and process until smooth. Flavor this custard mixture with the vanilla and eau-de-vie (if using).

3.
Prepare your chosen fruit: Peel, core, and slice the apples or pears. Pit cherries, and halve and pit apricots, peaches, and prune plums; slice the peaches. Fill the tart shell with the fruit. (For how to arrange apples, pears, or peaches, see “Arranging Apples in an Alsatian Fruit Tart,” above.) Cherries are put in whole. Prune plums and apricots are put in cut side down. Pour the custard over the fruit.

4.
Bake the tart for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 425°F and bake until the crust is golden brown, an additional 20 minutes.

5.
Unmold the tart as soon as possible and allow to cool on a wire rack (see “Unmolding a Tart or Quiche,” below).

6.
To serve: Coat the cooled tart with the hot currant jelly or apricot glaze. Slide the tart from the rack to a serving platter.

A
RRANGING
A
PPLES IN AN
A
LSATIAN
F
RUIT
T
ART

When cutting apples (or pears or peaches) for a tart, it’s important to keep the slices together. Since the slices have a tendency to stick to the knife blade and not stay put, I cut with just the point of the knife, held up at a 45-degree angle, drawing the tip through quickly. This way the fruit doesn’t have enough surface to cling to and the slices remain on the cutting board.

1.
“Quarter” and core the apples as shown.

2.
Cut the two round pieces into thin slices, keeping them together.

3.
Spread out and flatten the apple slices with your hand.

4.
Transfer the flattened slices to the tart shell.

5.
Dice the remaining apple pieces and place in between the flattened apple slices.

6.
The finished tart.

NOTES

Use less than ¼ teaspoon butter to give the pan a light varnish. Too much butter causes the pastry to slide down the side of the pan.

If you are making an apricot or peach tart, use Cognac. For an apple tart, use Calvados. For a cherry tart, use kirsch. For a pear tart, use Poire Williams. For a plum tart, use quetsch.

U
NMOLDING A
T
ART OR
Q
UICHE

A tart should be unmolded while it is hot so that the pastry dries as it cools. A tart pan with a removable bottom makes unmolding possible. Because of the false bottom, it is important to lift and move the tart pan by holding the outer rim only.

The procedure shown here may seem difficult, and many people prefer not to try it. However, if you choose not to do it, the tart will have a soggy bottom. It may take you two or three tarts to master the technique, but the results are well worth it. Once the tart has cooled, it can slide easily from its rack to a flat tart plate or platter for presentation and serving.

1.
When the tart has finished baking, place it on your countertop. Fold a kitchen towel to cover your hand and forearm. Slide the tart pan off the countertop and onto your hand.

2.
The rim will drop away and hang on your wrist. Transfer the tart on its metal bottom to a wire rack. The removal of the metal bottom is a little more difficult but also essential.

3.
Slide a long, narrow metal spatula between the metal bottom and the tart. It should slide freely across the bottom. (If the spatula sticks in the middle, the pastry has not been sufficiently cooked, and you should return the tart, rack and all, to the oven for a few minutes of additional baking.) Holding on to the edge of the metal bottom with one hand, raise it, tilting it 10 to 15 degrees. Again, slide the spatula underneath the pastry and pull the metal bottom away, while supporting the tart with the spatula, as you lower the tart to the rack.