Best Apple And Prune Tart With Vanilla Ice Cream And Cognac Recipes

APPLE AND PRUNE TART WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM AND COGNAC

Steps:

• Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add shortening and butter and blend, using on/off turns, until coarse meal forms. Add 3 tablespoons ice water. Blend, using on/off turns, until moist clumps form, adding more water by 1/2 tablespoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
• Combine prunes and Cognac in small bowl. Cover; let stand 2 hours, stirring often. Drain prunes, reserving Cognac. Cut prunes in half; set aside. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Fold overhang in and press, forming double-thick sides; refrigerate crust 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix apples, sugar and 2 tablespoons butter in large bowl. Arrange apple wedges, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles in crust. Bake tart until apples are just tender, about 1 hour. Tuck prunes into spaces between apples. Brush fruit with 1 tablespoon butter. Bake tart until apples are very tender and crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes longer. Transfer tart to rack and cool 15 minutes.
• Blend 1 tablespoon reserved Cognac into strained preserves for glaze. Brush glaze over warm tart. Cut tart into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream, drizzling some of reserved Cognac over ice cream.

APPLE TARTS WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Peel apples, reserving skins. Stir together water and 6 tablespoons sugar in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add pod. Add reserved apple skins and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Pour through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on and then discarding solids.
• Roll out 1 pastry sheet into a 10-inch square on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, then cut in half and transfer to 1 of baking sheets. Repeat with remaining pastry sheet, transferring to second baking sheet.
• Halve apples lengthwise, then core with a melon-ball cutter or a small spoon and cut crosswise into very thin slices (1/8 inch thick or less), keeping apple halves intact. Fan apple slices slightly, keeping apple shape, then arrange 3 halves in a row on each piece of pastry, leaving a 2/3-inch border on all sides.
• Brush border lightly with syrup and fold over about 1/3 inch to touch edges of apples. Crimp edges with a fork, then brush apples and edges of pastry with syrup (reserve remaining syrup). Brush apples completely with melted butter, then sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
• Bake tarts in upper and lower thirds of oven 20 minutes, then switch position of sheets and reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake tarts until edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. (If pastry edges aren't browning evenly, rotate tarts 180 degrees on sheets halfway through baking.)
• While tarts bake, boil remaining syrup over moderate heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Let tarts stand 5 minutes, then brush warm apples with remaining syrup.

APPLE AND PRUNE TART

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Pulse together flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle in 4 tablespoons ice water and pulse until pastry starts to hold together, adding remaining tablespoon ice water if needed. Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times. Form dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 30 minutes.
• Make filling:
• Simmer water, Calvados, and prunes, uncovered, until most of liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Stir together cinnamon, cloves, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1/2 cup sugar.
• Peel and core apples and cut into 1/2-inch wedges. Halve wedges crosswise and toss with cinnamon mixture. Add lemon juice and toss to coat.
• Finely grind walnuts with remaining 3 tablespoons flour and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor.
• Assemble and bake tart:
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 14- by 18-inch oval. Roll dough loosely onto floured rolling pin and unroll onto a large buttered baking sheet. Spinkle walnut mixture over pastry, leaving a 2 1/2- to 3-inch border.
• Stir stewed prunes into apple mixture and spoon over walnut mixture, evenly tucking prunes between apple pieces. Turn edge of dough over fruit to form pleats. Brush top of dough with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake tart, loosely covered with foil, in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crust and fruit are golden and juices are bubbling, about 30 minutes more. Cool tart on baking sheet on a rack at least 20 minutes before serving.

TOURTIERE (APPLE, PRUNE AND ARMAGNAC TART)

Steps:

• To prepare the tourtiere you will need a large, round, shallow baking pan; a 16-inch paella pan is perfect.
• Peel the apples, quarter them and slice very thin. In a mediumsize saucepan combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water and cook over medium-high heat until quite dry, or for about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, combine the prunes and Armagnac and allow them to marinate while the apples cook.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Dampen a large cloth towel and drape it over the phyllo dough to prevent it from drying out.
• Drain the prunes and combine them with the cooked apples. Reserve the Armagnac or rum.
• Using a pastry brush, lightly oil the bottom and sides of the baking pan.
• Place the tourtiere in the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce the oven temperature to 300 and cook an additional hour. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve either hot, at room temperature or gently reheated, cutting into pie-shaped wedges.
• Spoon the apple-and-prune mixture in a single layer on top of the fourth sheet of dough, covering the bottom and sides of the pastry. Be sure to keep the unused phyllo dough covered as you continue to work.
• Continue with the rest of the phyllo dough, layering sheet by sheet, covering each sheet with a sprinkling of sugar and a sprinkling of Armagnac, until you have used all the sugar, Armagnac and dough. Use about 10 sheets, or layers, in all.
• Trim off any overlapping pastry from the edges so they are even and sprinkle the trimmings on top of the last layer of pastry.
• Center one sheet of phyllo dough in the baking pan and sprinkle generously with sugar and Armagnac. Do this three more times until you have four sheets of phyllo.