Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake

 I'm not a pastry snob, being a total amateur and all.  And actual pastries are an art, and a hard one.  But this relatively simple cake made me feel almost professional - check out that height!  And how about that pastry cream inside?  Fancy.  And that almost-perfect crust.  Thank you.

Never mind that, when I took this to a dinner party, and was asked what I had brought, I proudly replied, "Oh this?  It's a Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake."  He gave it a suspicious once-over, and sniffed.  "Well," he said, "I never met a pie I didn't like," and walked away, as if he had bestowed some form of acceptance, or approval.  Ahem.  Recover.  Smile graciously.  Keep it deep inside that it's not a pie.  It's a pastry cake.  Like I said.

Me?  Nope, not a snob at all.

Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake (print recipe)
Makes 12 to 16 servings

Pastry Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
4 to 6 T ice water or half-and-half

Apple Filling:
10 to 12 large apples, cored, peeled, and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins, plumped and dried* (I used golden raisins)
1 T lemon juice

Vanilla Sauce:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 T all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Finishing Touches:
Confectioners' sugar
Apricot jam, warmed

1.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Brush bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform with melted butter and place on baking sheet.

2.  For Pastry Crust, place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Add butter and pulse to make a grainy mixture.  Add water and pulse to make a shaggy dough.  On a lightly floured work surface, gather dough together, kneading a few moments to make a smooth dough.  Wrap and chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out.

3.  Meanwhile, for Apple Filling, toss apples with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, raisins, and lemon juice.

4.  Preheat oven to 350.  Roll or press out dough evenly and fit on bottom and sides of prepared pan (dough should be between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick.)  Fill with Apple Filling, pressing gently.  For final layer of apples, arrange in concentric circles.  Apples should come to top of pan.  If they don't, prepare more to fill out the pan, tossing with 2 T sugar and a touch of cinnamon.

5.  Cover pan lightly with aluminum foil.  Bake cake 60 to 70 minutes or until apples are soft, removing foil after 20 minutes.  The top apples might seem dry and browned around their edges, but interior apples should begin to feel soft - use a skewer to test apples.

6.  For Vanilla Sauce, in a small bowl, blend melted butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, flour, and cinnamon.  Pour this over hot pastry cake, trying to get sauce to drip into crevices.  Bake another 20 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

7.  Refrigerate pastry cake at least 6 hours or preferably overnight.  Dust with confectioners' sugar or brush with warmed apricot jam before serving.

*I usually don't bother to plump my dried fruit, but if you want to, cover the fruit with very hot water and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes; drain and pat dry with paper towels before using in a recipe.

Recipe from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

1 year ago:  Doughnut Upside Down Cake
2 years ago:  My First Fudge
3 years ago:  White Chocolate Macadamia Muffins