Apples and honey (frangipane) for Rosh Hashanah
A brief correction from my last newsletter: I later received information that I am in fact friends with the person I went to see baseball with (cool!) and that their team is the Mariners and not the Marlins, but who can blame me for confusing those. Two wet baseball teams!
I was surprised to search my archives and see that I had never shared this recipe before. I used to make this every fall, many times. It’s a perfect thing to make if you have a fruit share from a CSA, and I haven’t had one of those in a while, which I guess is why I fell off this tart. Anyway, the high holidays are a good reason to share the recipe for it. This is a great tart, but if it’s even the slightest bit humid I want to let you know that it will be awful the next day. (I will still eat it, but it will be soggy.) That’s fine, I feel that I can comfortably house half of this in one go, so grab one (or more) friends, and go for it.
I’m not actually Jewish, which I guess is how I get away without feeling a shred of guilt for only doing the holidays where you eat, and not the ones where you fast. Since Rosh Hashanah involves eating, I am all for it. Yom Kippur who? I don’t know her. Not much to say this time because I was working on another newsletter that had nothing to do with the holidays but remembered to post this so you might have time to make it for Saturday!
Apple and Honey Frangipane Galette
Galette Dough
Makes two
2½ (320g) cups all-purpose flour
2 T. sugar
½ tsp. table salt
2 sticks (16 tablespoons | 8 oz | 227g ) unsalted butter
½ C. + 2 T. ice water
Frangipane
Makes enough for two
1 cup almond flour
4 tablespoons honey
pinch salt
4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons clavados, brandy, (or 4 teaspoons of liquor of your choice)
for assembly (per tart):
1 to 2 apples, I like Honey Crisp or Fuji, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, turbinado is nice
This is an incredible recipe from Alexandra Cooks, with my only alteration being to use honey (duh) instead of sugar in the frangipane. She mentions that the galette dough and frangipane will both last for a few days in the refrigerator. This is true! I usually make these on alternating nights.
Preheat oven to 400.
For the dough: I think you just add it all to the food processor, pulse to combine. (to quote her directly “In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt together. Cut the butter into small pieces, then add to the food processor. Pulse at 1-second intervals until butter is the size of peas—should be about 10 quick pulses. Add the ice water and pulse again about 10 times until the mixture is crumbly but holds together when pinched. See video for guidance. Lay two clean tea towels on a work surface. Dump half of the crumbly dough mixture into the center of each. Grab the four corners of the towel together and twist to create a beggar’s purse—the video really helps explain this step—pressing the dough into a disk. Use your hands to pack and pat the disk together. Store one of the rounds. Keep one handy.”
Divide into two, shape into circles, refrigerate the one you aren’t using.
Using the same food processor (no need to clean) make the frangipane by, like, adding the stuff, and then mixing it. Super easy. Add the liquid at the end, although I’m not sure it matters.
Flour your table, roll out your dough. You want it to be round-ish and she says “12-13 inches” I usually measure by holding my forearm in front of it and seeing if it looks right. When rolling the dough, flip every few rolls.
Peel and slice your apples. You want them pretty thin, but not, like, wafer thin. You are not looking through them. You also want them to bake. Use your judgement.
Put half the frangipane on the dough, smooth it out, leaving about an inch around the edge. Put the apples on the frangipane, layering to get as much apple coverage as is reasonble. Heat butter, fold dough, put melted butter over sides of tart and top of apples. Sprinkle with turbinado (it has the best texture here.)
Bake at 400 for 35 minutes or so, until it looks done. Let cool for a few minutes, and then go for it. Remember to eat it all the night you make it, that’s the most important part.