Lo How a Rose

Grace Flaherty, single-crust pie, sweet piesJanuary 23, 2016No comments

In honor of this week’s decorative theme, I decided to tackle a baking feat I’ve been meaning to master for a while –apple roses. I’ve tried to make apple roses in the past without any success so I went into this week determined to master the perfect apple flower décor to top a maple custard tart with a walnut crust.

 

The recipe for the tart was quite simple. I learned how to use a food processor for the walnuts, and how to properly press the crust into the tart pan. The crust only needed about 15 minutes to bake, and it turned out perfectly browned all the way around which I was happy about.

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The custard was also very straightforward. It just involved whisking and heating eggs, cream, maple syrup, and cornstarch into a pudding-like consistency. The recipe said to push the custard through a mesh sieve to reduce clumps, but that didn’t go very smoothly so I skipped that step. But there weren’t any clumps when I tasted it, so I think it was probably unnecessary.

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After 45 minutes of practicing slicing apples incredibly thin I was ready to try my hand at the rose-decoration. The most difficult part was definitely getting thin enough slices, but I found using a peeler was very effective. I soaked the pieces in lemon juice to prevent browning and then warmed them up in the microwave for about ten seconds made them more pliable. I then rolled them and arranged them into the cooled maple custard.

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After all the roses were arranged around the pie, I sprinkled the entire thing with cinnamon as a little added decoration and for a bit more flavor.

 

The final product was dainty, creamy, nutty, and quite lovely. Very happy with the end result, I will definitely make this pie again in the future!

 

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Maple Custard Tart

  • Prep time:
  • Cook time:
  • Total time:
  • Yield: 10
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Recipe type: dessert

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups walnuts
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 apples
  • Lemon juice
  • Smooth apricot jam

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
  2. Melt the butter and set aside
  3. Process the walnuts until finely ground
  4. Mix the ground walnuts with the butter, egg, sugar and salt.
  5. Using a silicon spatula, scrape the mixture into a greased tart pan and press it evenly over the bottom and up the sides
  6. Bake for 12-15 minutes
  7. In one medium bowl, mix together the cream, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Set aside.
  8. In the other medium bowl, whisk the eggs and set aside.
  9. Add the corn starch and salt to the pot and mix them together.
  10. Slowly pour the cream-milk mixture into the pot while whisking to avoid lumps. Turn the heat to medium and continue to whisk until the pot just begins to simmer.
  11. Turn the heat to low. Ladle about half a cup of the mixture into the bowl with the eggs and whisk to incorporate. Add a little more of the hot cream to raise the temperature of the eggs. When the eggs are warmed, pour the egg mixture into the pot and whisk vigorously over low heat to prevent burning.
  12. The custard will thicken a bit and then thicken a lot, and when it has thickened to a pudding-like consistency, take it off the heat.
  13. Set out the heat-proof bowl. Pour some of the mixture into a fine-mesh strainer and push it through with the silicone spatula; do this until all the custard has been pushed through.
  14. Press the cling-wrap onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Cool in the refrigerator.
  15. When cooled, pour the custard into the tart and smooth with a spatula.
  16. Decorate as you please!

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