We will soon be heading into fall. For apple lovers, the cool mornings and clear days of Autumn mean one thing; its time for some of the season’s crisp, juicy apple harvest. Apples are available year round thanks to controlled-atmosphere, cold storage chambers that keep them fresh for months. Some varieties even develop better flavor overtime. After 30 plus years in the food service industry, I retired and spent some wonderful years as tree and shrub buyer for a garden center. On this property there were many apple trees. One of the varieties was called Westland. These particular apples don’t taste like much until the first frost had touched them. Apples are a very common fruit but shouldn’t be overlooked due to their versatility.
When you take notice of how many ways apples are used in German baking, cooking, etc. its very clear that Germany loves its apples. For example there’s fresh apples, apple sauce, apple pancakes, apple juice, apple schnapps, apfelschorle (apple juice and carbonated water) and of course the many versions of apple cake …..
This German Apple Cake is served with a nice vanilla custard sauce making it quite special.
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German Apple Custard Cake
Votes: 6
Rating: 4.17
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Votes: 6
Rating: 4.17
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Rate this recipe!
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Instructions
Cake
Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease & flour or line with parchment paper an 8 or 9-inch spring form pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & cardamom. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add 3/4 cup sugar & mix. Peel apples; slice & cut as suggested. Toss apples with flour mixture to coat.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs & milk together. Add to the apples & flour; mix in with a large spatula until just combined. Batter should look thick & dough-like. Transfer the dough to prepared cake pan & flatten the top using the back of spatula. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp sugar over the cake top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or when cake tests done.
Custard
In a bowl, whisk egg yolks & sugar until pale yellow about 2-3 minutes. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the egg/sugar mixture. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan & stir over medium heat until custard thickens, about 4 minutes. Custard should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in vanilla & transfer to serving pitcher. This custard is not a thick, pudding like consistency; it needs to be a pour able.
Serve custard warm or cold over apple cake.
The second Monday of October has been the day Canada has celebrated Thanksgiving since 1957. We have now entered into our Autumn season with all it’s breathtaking fabulous fall foliage. Part of Canada’s appeal is it’s four seasons that offer changing landscapes and temperatures.
I, for one, have always loved the changing seasons. That’s not to say that I like freezing cold and slippery roads but that I have come to understand the important role each one plays in the ‘big picture’. When Brion and I initially landscaped our property, careful consideration was given to what plants were planted. Over the years it has developed into a beautiful tapestry of color through our growing season.
Growing up on the farm, Fall was an especially busy time with the grain crops being harvested, garden vegetables being canned, frozen or just stored for use over the coming months. So much needed to be done before winter would set in. As a teenager it all just seemed like a lot of work. Even as hard as my parents worked at making a living from farming, I think they felt a real sense of satisfaction in what they were able to achieve. I realize now that even without being aware of it the visual beauty of the farmland at harvest was imprinted on me forever.
Thanksgiving Day in Canada is linked to the European tradition of harvest festivals. A common image seen at this time of year is a cornucopia, or horn, filled with seasonal fruit and vegetables. The cornucopia, which means ‘Horn of Plenty’ in Latin, was a symbol of bounty and plenty in ancient Greece. Turkeys, pumpkins, ears of corn and large displays of food are also used to symbolize Thanksgiving Day.
Over the years, Brion and I have chose to have a variety of different meats for our Thanksgiving meal. Turkey is always the tradition for our Christmas dinner and since the two holidays come fairly close together, why not! All that being said though, we decided this year to roast just the turkey breast with stuffing. I also incorporated some of that wonderful Butternut squash with cranberries into the meal as well. For dessert we are having some pumpkin chiffon tarts. As a ‘kid’, I remember having a great dislike for the regular pumpkin pie — you know the kind –‘solid’. Then one year my mother made pumpkin ‘CHIFFON‘ pie. Well, now that was glorious and I have loved it ever since.
Today in my recipes I have only included the Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Pumpkin Chiffon Tarts. I thought I’d get into the turkey and stuffing recipes later in the season.
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
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Butternut Squash with Cranberries / Pumpkin Chiffon Tarts
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Ingredients
Butternut Squash with Cranberries
Pumpkin Chiffon Tart Filling
Ingredients
Butternut Squash with Cranberries
Pumpkin Chiffon Tart Filling
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Rate this recipe!
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Instructions
Butternut Squash with Cranberries
Preheat oven to 375 F. Split squash in half; place hollow side down on a lightly buttered baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes or until completely soft to the touch.
In a small skillet, saute celery & onion in margarine until tender. Add the apple, salt, lemon juice & pepper. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat until apple is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in cranberries, sugar & water. Cook & stir until berries pop & liquid is syrupy. If you prefer, you could process this mixture for a couple of seconds in a food processor.
Remove seeds & membrane from cooked squash; mash well. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, balsamic vinegar & maple syrup. Place some squash in individual custard dishes. Make a hollow in the center for the cranberry 'filling'. Add cranberries & serve.
Pumpkin Chiffon Tart Filling
In a medium saucepan, combine first 7 ingredients; mix well. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, regular milk & egg yolks; combine well. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens to a heavy custard. Boil 2 minutes, add 1 Tbsp margarine. Place wax paper over custard to prevent a 'skin' from forming. Let custard become cold (it can be refrigerated overnite at this point, finishing it the following day) then stir in 1/4 cup orange juice.
Whip envelope of dessert topping with 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 tsp vanilla until stiff peaks form. It should yield about 2 cups. Put aside the amount you need to garnish tarts with. Fold remaining whipped dessert topping into custard. Spoon custard into a large pastry bag with a large 'star' tip. Fill baked mini tart shells. Decorate with a small dollop of dessert topping.
Pastry
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt. Cut in white & yellow Crisco shortening. In a 1 cup measuring cup place egg & vinegar; beat well. Add enough COLD water to fill cup. Pour all at once over flour mixture, mixing until pastry pulls away from sides of bowl. This should only take a couple of minutes, making sure not to over mix pastry. Roll out on floured surface. Using the bottom side of tart pans, cut pastry circles & place over each 'cup'. Bake at 350 F. until golden. Cool on wire rack before filling with pumpkin custard. If your using purchased shells follow baking instructions & cool before filling as well.
Recipe Notes
- This pastry & pumpkin chiffon custard recipe was one I started using many years ago while working in the food industry. They were some of my favorites because they were pretty much 'fail proof'. If you want to make a double batch of each it will give you 4 - 9-inch pies. You can make them up to the point of decorating. Freeze until needed then just bring them out & thaw, decorate and you got a nice little homemade dessert just like that!
A while back I was in a grocery store and happened to notice a familiar looking little tart being sold. Sure enough, it was some Portuguese custard tarts with their typical characteristic of a ‘browned’ custard. There is no doubt this little sweet treat has universal appeal.
Until Brion and I had the pleasure of visiting Portugal in 2014, I really had never even tasted them or realized what an interesting history these unassuming custard tarts had.
‘Pasteis de nata’ were created by Catholic monks at the Jeronimos Monastery in the district of Belem, in Lisbon. These monks were originally based in France and loved these pastries. At the time, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg whites for starching clothes, such as nuns’ habits. It was quite common for them to use the leftover egg yolks to make cakes and pastries, as a result these legendary tarts were born!
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, next to the Jeronimos Monastery there was a sugar cane refinery attached to a small general store. Following the extinction of the religious orders and in the face of the impending closing of many of the convents and monasteries in the aftermath of the Liberal Revolution of 1820, the monks started selling pasteis de nata at the sugar refinery to secure some revenue. In 1834 the monastery was closed and the recipe was sold to the sugar refinery. Three years later, the baking of the ‘Pasteis de Belem’ began in the buildings attached to the refinery, following the ancient ‘secret recipe’ from the monastery. Passed on and known exclusively to the master confectioners who hand-crafted the pastries in the’secret room’, this recipe remains unchanged to the present day. The bakery produces something like 10,000+ of these tarts a day, everything being done by hand except the filling of the tart shells.
When you read the recipe it makes you wonder how does a simple little custard tart reach such status. It seems it might be a few things such as ‘secret recipes’, teams of folks who do nothing but make the pastry dough or whip up the filling. Then there are those commercial ovens that blast at 800 F. to get that characteristic ‘browned’ look and taste. Definitely, when you make that many daily you can’t help but get it right!
All that being said, here is an easy way to make some ‘pasteis de nata’ in your own kitchen to enjoy but we all know so much of it is in ‘the taste of a memory’.
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Portuguese Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nata)
Light, flaky, crispy crust with a lightly sweetened creamy custard
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
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Instructions
Whisk yolks, eggs, cream, sugar & cornstarch in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat the back of spoon; remove from heat. Whisk in butter, vanilla & lemon zest. Strain the custard into a bowl. Place a piece of waxed paper directly over the custard; refrigerate until chilled or up to a day.
Starting from the short end, roll each sheet of thawed puff pastry into a log; cut each into 12 equal pieces. Lightly grease 2-12 cup muffin pans. Place a piece of dough in each cup, Pressing dough evenly with your fingers to form a tart shell. Line each tart case with a small round of parchment paper. Fill with baking weights or rice. 'Blind' bake at 400 F. for ABOUT 10 minutes.
Adjust oven temperature to 450 F. Fill tart shells about 2/3 full with cooled custard. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Adjust to BROIL temperature & brown for 3-5 minutes, watching closely so they don't burn.
Leave to cool in muffin pans for about 5 minutes then turn out carefully on to a wire rack. Serve at room temperature. If preferred, sprinkle with a little ground cinnamon.
Recipe Notes
- Using frozen puff pastry makes it less time consuming but it still seems to take a few times of making them to get your timing just right with each part of the baking process. In the end it's well worth it!
