A few months ago, gripped by baking fever, I purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible. I quickly decided to embark upon a mission to bake everything in the book, and turn myself from an occasional baker into a bit of an expert. My Grandad Ern was a Master Baker by trade; the man responsible for introducing Danish Pastries to England in fact, and I wish it had occurred to me to spend more time learning from him, rather than simply enjoying the fruits of his effortless labours. This project is almost a way of making amends for that; I'd like to follow in his footsteps (if not in my career, at least as a hobby) and continue the proud heritage of baking in my family.
I credit my friend Rachel with the idea to write a blog about my baking exploits, hoping that there will be more successes than failures as I attempt all 213 of the Queen of Baking's recipes.
So as not to bore the husband with a monotonous diet of sponges, followed by weeks of biscuits, I've decided to tackle the recipes by selecting the first bake from each chapter, followed by the second recipe and so on. I'm not going to pick and choose; I'm determined to face my baking demons and learn how to do everything baking-related, even if the consequences are disastrous!
Everything will be photographed, with comment about how I found baking it, and a husband rating (to be taken with a pinch of salt as he has a very selective cake-tooth).


Friday 7 November 2014

65. French Apple Tart

So, my Mum turned up with a bag of cooking apples donated by a friend and it just seemed appropriate to make an apple pie with them. I let them fester for a few weeks until doing something with them became an urgency, and happily found another recipe in Mary's book. This recipe also turned out to be a bit of a labour of love. We'd made plans to go out once I'd made it, but it took much longer than I though it would.
The pastry was easy to make; a rich shortcrust which needed refrigerating. It was hard to roll out and get into the tin, so there was a bit of patching going on. When I'd blind-baked it and taken the beans out, I was quite concerned to see several large cracks in the base, especially as I was making the filling and it was very sloppy. In the end I braced myself for a soggy bottom, but something that would at least taste nice.
The apples took some preparing. Once they'd been cored (not peeled) and chopped, they had to bubble away on the hob for some time with some sugar and apricot jam, until they became mushy. A dessert apple was sliced for the topping. I thought it looked very pretty as I put it into the oven, and apart from some of the apples browning a bit, the end result (glazed with more jam) looked very appetising. Joe and I had some (forgot the ice cream) and I really liked it. The pastry was thin, and the apples were lovely. They'd got lemon juice in, so the flavour was quite tart, but I thought it worked well. I ended up freezing some of it, and it did freeze very well.
Baker's verdict: a bit fiddly but not complicated. Lovely, sharp apple flavour and a nice texture. Would be even better with some cream or ice cream!
Husband rating: 6.5/10 - the apple filling was nice with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness; not enough pastry and too much apple though.

 
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