After two weeks of invalid food (a case of tonsillectomy at home), my kitchen is full of cooking apples so before November is out, I'd like to share my version of a 19th century apple-tart.
Now here is a fact that I didn't know about Eliza Leslie, author of the original recipe. Besides her popular cookbooks, she wrote fiction and non-fiction that was based on her personal knowledge, experience and interests. Even if her pen wasn't as good as Jane Austen's (at least, that's my
idea after reading some of her prose), she was just as
good-humored and, it seems, quite fond of children. This poem is a rare gift, extracted from her Stories for summer days and winter nights (1863):
"THE CLEAN FACE;
or THE BOY WASHED BY HIS ELDER SISTER.
Oh! Why must my face be wash'd so clean,
And scrubb'd and drench'd for Sunday,
When you know very well (as you've always seen)
'Twill be dirty again on Monday?
My hair is stiff with the lathery soap,
That behind my ears is dripping;
And my smarting eyes I'm afraid to ope;
And my lip the suds is sipping.
They're down my throat, and up my nose -
And to choke me you seem to be trying.
That I'll shut my mouth you need n't suppose,
For how can I keep from crying?
And you rub as hard as ever you can -
And your hands are hard - to my sorrow!
No woman shall wash me when I'm a man -
And I wish I was one to-morrow."
Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book was published a year before she died in 1858, including this apple-tart based on her recipe for quince-pies that gourmets up to the nineteenth century were truly in love with. The fruit was cooked separately, then dusted with sugar and placed in half-baked tart shells. The quince-pies were optionally accompanied with ice cream but, for the apple-pies, it's best to use Miss Leslie's excellent custard.
"FINE APPLE-PIES. - May be made in the same manner, flavored with the grated yellow rind and juice of a lemon. The apples should be fine juice pippins. If done whole, lay one on each patty-pan tart, and stick into the core hole a slip of the yellow rind of lemon, pared so thin as to be nearly transparent."
As preparation of the fruit was the same as for quince-pies, the outline is given in my own words below (steps 1-3).
MISS LESLIE'S APPLE-TART
Puff-paste was very common in historic tart recipes but I generally use pâte brisée (shortcrust), mainly because I don't like re-heating a tart I want to serve the next day. So that's a difference between the original recipe and mine. I also baked one tart instead of several mini-tarts.
I n g r e d i e n t s
6 apples
1/2 cup sugar
a lemon
pâte brisée (or puff-paste)
icing sugar
M e t h o d
1. Pare, core and quarter the fruit. Stew in a little water. Remove when half-done, keeping the juice. 2, Quarter the apples, place in a baking dish, and cover with sugar. 3. Pour over the apple & lemon juices and bake in a moderate oven until soft. 4. Line a tart pan with the dough (or puff paste). Prick all over, cover with beans, and bake until golden. 5. Fill the baked tart shell with the apples. Decorate with thinly sliced lemon rind. 6. Leave to cool, then dust with icing sugar. Alternatively, top with homemade custard.
N o t e
To make pâte brisée: Using two knives, mix 115g cubed butter into 250g flour. Add one egg lightly beaten and 2-3tbsp cold milk. Lightly knead with your fingers, gather into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Fit into a tart-pan, also lining the sides whose edges you may trim.
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