Tarte tatin, a fall favorite

Fall is officially in the air! I love this season, with its breezy days and cool nights; the beautiful palette of colors as leaves turn; fall greens such as kale and swiss chard; and the bewilidering array of knobbly pumpkins and squashes in the markets. I also love apples and pears, the quintessential fall fruit. Growing up in India, which is mostly tropical, I didn't get to sample much variety by way of these, so it was only since moving to the US that I experienced them in their full glory. I'd visit every stall in the Union Square Greenmarket, sampling each kind that the farmers were generous enough to offer, making my own tasting notes and discovering my favorites along the way.

I enjoy apples and pears in so many different ways - baked, poached, in salads, or simply eaten out of hand. Of course, my all-time favorite way to cook with them is to make an indulgent tarte tatin. This is one of my favorite desserts - apples or pears cooked in salted buttery caramel and baked under a flaky pastry crust. There are amusing stories about the origin of this French classic - some say a server once dropped a tart, and then went on to serve it in its upturned state. Others say someone forgot to line the tart pan with pastry before filling it with the fruit and decided to bake it on top of the fruit instead. While I can't vouch for the authenticity of either story, I can definitely attest to how delicious this tart is. It is one of those rare desserts you can put together with just five ingredients: fruit of choice, flour, butter, sugar and salt. After tweaking around with a few different recipes, I've formulated my own version. It's easy to do ahead, too; the dough circle and the caramel can both be stored in the refrigerator overnight, making this a good dessert for entertaining.

This is the perfect fall dessert. Traditionally, it's served au naturel, but even though the French may scoff at me, I certainly wouldn't say no to a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of creme fraiche alongside mine!

Recipe: Tarte tatin (Serves 6-8, depending on your fondness for this dessert!)

Crust:
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
3-4 tablespoons ice water
Caramel:
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter (the French use salted, but I usually have only unsalted)
A good pinch of sea salt - I save my precious fleur de sel for use in sweet applications like this one. If using salted butter, reduce or omit this, depending on how salty you like your caramel.
Fruit:
As many apples or pears you need to fit your pan, which could be a cake pan or an ovenproof skillet 8-10" in diameter. Use a firm variety which holds its shape when cooked. The picture above is of a tart made with Bosc pears.

For the crust, dump the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse briefly. Add the butter and pulse till it is about the size of small peas. Add the ice water, a tablespoon at a time, and pulse till the dough just comes together. Turn it out on to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Flatten it into a disk, wrap in cling film and chill for half an hour. Once the dough is rested, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a circle a little larger than your pan. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill. This makes sense to do ahead because the chilled circle of dough is very easy to transfer to the fruit.
Preheat the oven to 375F(190C)
Peel and core the fruit and cut into quarters. If not using them immediately, transfer to a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon in it to prevent discoloration.
For the caramel, put the sugar with a tablespoon of water in your pan of choice, and place over medium heat. Once the sugar is melted and starts to boil, cook it for a few minutes, until it caramelizes and turns a deep amber color. Remove from the heat, add in the butter and salt and stir till incorporated. If your pan cannot be used on the stovetop, do this step in a saucepan and transfer the caramel to the pan.
Pat the fruit dry and arrange, rounded side down, on top of the caramel. Pack it in tightly to allow for shrinkage while baking. Place the dough circle on top of the fruit. The warmth of the pan will cause it to drape to the contours of the fruit. Bake the tart for about 45 minutes or until the top is a deep golden brown. Allow to cool briefly, then place a large plate on the top of your pan and flip the tart over. The juices can be poured off and reduced further to glaze the tart. Serve warm on its own or with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.

Ringing in the New Year - with sweet treats

A new year, and a new decade. What better way than to celebrate with something sweet and sinful? We went party hopping, to a potluck dinner party and then to a drinks-and-snacks one. I love potluck parties and always jump at the chance to bring dessert. For me, it's fun to be able to lavish a little bit more time on dessert than if I had to cook the rest of the meal as well.

This is the holiday season, when folks often stop by with goodies. Hidden among those bags of candies and cookies was a jar full of assorted nuts in the shell - Santa's gift to the squirrels in the backyard, perhaps? I didn't think they'd mind if I helped myself to a few (okay - a lot!) and so I settled on a caramel nut tart as my dessert offering.

The recipe I used is adapted from one we used in a class I took at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York last year. Kathryn Gordon, a pastry chef who's worked at some of New York's famous restaurants, teaches a class on petits fours. It's a great class for baking enthusiasts wanting to expand their repertoire and to learn some cool tricks from a pro. We made miniature tarts, financiers, caramels, truffles, pate-de-fruit and more. Labor intensive but fun, not to mention delicious! I had always been a little shy of working with caramel and pastry before, but Kathryn's skilled demos banished my fears and I've since added them to my dessert repertoire.

For the snacks party, I took along some cookies. There's been many a New Year's Eve that I've been struck with a sweet craving in the wee hours, with not a cookie in sight! I decided to solve that potential problem by providing the cookies myself ;) Continuing with the nutty theme, I made Karen DeMasco's Pecan Shortbread cookies, which came to me by way of Jill Santopietro's blog on the New York Times. They are a snap to make, since the dough can be made and shaped into logs ahead of time, so when you are ready to bake them, all you have to do is pull them out of the fridge and slice them.

Happily, both the tart and the cookies were a hit. The combination of crisp hazelnut pastry with gooey, nutty, orange-scented caramel screams "holiday!" You could drizzle it with some melted dark chocolate if you wanted to make it totally over-the-top indulgent, but I opted to leave it plain. The cookies were the perfect post-champagne bite - lightly sweet, buttery shortbread, studded with pecans and subtly flavored with vanilla.

A great start to the new year - hope it brings many more sweet treats!
Recipes:
Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Caramel Nut Tart (Adapted from Kathryn Gordon's recipe for Caramel Nut Barquettes, makes 1 10-11" tart)
Pastry:
3 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 tbsp sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup hazelnut meal (you can buy readymade or grind your own)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch sea salt
Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp water
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup orange juice
Big pinch fleur-de-sel or sea salt
1 1/2 cups mixed nuts, toasted and chopped coarsely - I used hazelnuts, brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts and pistachios
Generous splash Grand Marnier (or other liqueur of choice - optional)
For the pastry, cream the butter and sugar together till fluffy. Mix in the egg and then fold in the combined dry ingredients. Form into a ball, flatten it and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour. When the pastry is rested, remove it from the fridge, allow to soften a bit, then roll between two layers of parchment paper. Line the tart pan (I used a 10" pan with a removable bottom) with the pastry and chill for another hour or overnight. When you are ready to bake it, preheat the oven to 350F(180C). Line the pastry shell with foil and fill with dried beans, rice or pastry weights. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and weights and continue baking for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Lower the oven temperature to 300F (150C).
While the pastry is baking, make the filling. Heat the cream, juice and salt in a small pan and keep warm. In a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan, place the sugar and the water on medium heat. Cook until it reaches a deep golden-brown color, cleaning the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in water. When the caramel is done, pour in the cream mixture all at once. Stand back, it will bubble up dramatically. Stir with a wooden spoon till the caramel is smooth and even, then stir in the nuts and liqueur, if using. Allow to cool slightly.
Pour the filling carefully into the crust and bake for another 25-30 minutes, till the caramel is bubbling. Allow to cool completely before serving.