This is one of the most delicious tarts I've ever made. I grabbed the recipe over the summer from an NPR post written by the author of the Nothing in the House pie blog (thanks for this amazing recipe!).
You'll need fresh figs and a nonstick, oven-safe frying pan for this one. Once you've got those, this tarte tatin should be a piece of cake (pun fully intended). What's a tarte tatin, you'd like to know? It's an upside-down tart with caramelized fruit. It got its name from the Hotel Tatin, located a couple of hours south of Paris, in whose kitchen the tart originated.
Here to pair with this delightful tart is the ninth track from my wedding mix tape, the Beatles' "Two of Us." It might be a controversial statement, but this is my favorite love song on any Beatles album. I can just envision the tungsten lighting of a 1960s drive on 16mm film.
Ingredients:
*adapted from Nothing in the House, courtesy of the British Pieminister
--pie crust, rolled and chilled (recipe here)
--15 large figs, stems cut and sliced in half
--3/4 c. granulated sugar
--3/4 c. water
--1/2 tsp. cinnamon
--1/2 c. roasted pistachios
--3 tbsp. honey
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In an oven-safe frying pan, bring sugar and water to a low boil until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook for about 8-10 minutes, or just until your mixture has become a thick, golden caramel syrup.
Turn the heat to a simmer and add the figs. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or just until the figs have become quite soft (but not mushy). Remove the figs with a slotted spoon and set aside in a small bowl. Add the pistachios to the frying pan and cover them with the caramel. Add the figs back to the frying pan face-down, arranging so that the bottom of the pan is filled but no figs overlap.
Take your pie crust and top the fig and pistachio mixture with it. Tuck it down into the sides of the frying pan so that it forms a sort of top (don't worry about neatly tucking the edges! Just tuck them in as best you can--this is a rustic pie).
Poke a few fork holes in the top of your pie crust and transfer your frying pan to the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, or just until the pie crust turns a light golden color. Remove from oven. Now here's the trick part: line a baking sheet with parchment, and just as soon as you've taken the pan out of the oven, flip the tart upside-down onto the parchment. Just do it quickly--you can do it!
Drizzle honey over the top of the tart and let cool for about 10-15 minutes before cutting.
Not exactly a pie (you could just as easily make it in a rectangular 9 x 11 baking dish), but I'm calling it a pie here. This nectarine crumble is a delicious dessert, and it can very easily be made into a vegan recipe (just substitute Earth Balance for the butter).
I love crumbles and crisps, and you could easily substitute the nectarines for any wintry fruit. Apples, in particular, can make this a great December or January after-dinner treat.
Here's Gram Parsons singing "I Can't Dance," the third track from our wedding mix and a hit from his album Grievous Angel.
Ingredients:
--6 ripe nectarines, washed and sliced
--1 c. granulated sugar
--juice from one lemon
--1 tbsp. cornstarch
--1 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats
--1 c. all-purpose flour
--1 c. dark brown sugar
--1/2 tsp. cinnamon
--1 tsp. vanilla extract
--6 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, sliced
--pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix nectarine slices with granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Pour into a buttered pie dish.
In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, butter, and salt. Mix with your hands until you've got a crumbly, sweet crumble topping. Crumble over the top of the nectarines. (This recipe makes quite a lot of crumble topping. If you like a little less, you may end up with some extra.)
Bake for about 30 minutes, or just until the crumble topping begins to turn a very light golden color. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Like all crumbles and crisps, this dessert is fantastic a la mode.
Next up from the wedding pies? Peach melba pie! This pie is a delicious summery mix of peaches, raspberries, and vanilla. Want it in the wintertime? Freeze some peaches ahead of time in anticipation of warm weather cravings during the snowy months.
With this pie here's the Ramones' "Do You Wanna Dance?" It was initially recorded in the late 1950s, covered by the Beach Boys in the 1960s to much acclaim, and covered again by the Ramones on their 1977 album (and my favorite album), Rocket to Russia.
By the way, underneath the pie is a fabulous textile I brought home from Guatemala this past January.
Ingredients:
--pie crust recipe x2 (available here)
--6 large, ripe peaches, sliced
--juice from one lemon
--zest from one lemon
--1 vanilla bean
--1 c. raspberries
--3 tbsp. cornstarch
--1/4 c. apricot jam
--pinch of salt
--3/4 c. light brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla bean contents, apricot jam, salt, and brown sugar. Fold in sliced peaces. Mash raspberries and fold in. Pour into pie shell.
I used a pastry cutter to design the pie crust top. You could do the same (see photo), or simply add a rolled pie crust on top and cut in a few venting slices.
Cover the crust for the first 30 minutes of baking. Remove crust cover
and continue to bake for another 25-30 minutes, or just until crust
becomes golden in color. Remove from oven and allow to cool. This pie is
great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I've been terribly absent from my blog over the last few months, but with good reason! I spent the last month in India (sweets from South Asia will appear very, very soon), and in the months before that, I made 16 pies for my wedding!
Before the new year, I'm going to try to post each one of those pie recipes for you on Spoonfeeding Casanova. And lucky for me, I'll be able to pair each one with a song from our wedding--as wedding favors, we made a mix CD for all of our guests. First song up? The sixth track on our playlist: The Velvet Underground's "She's My Best Friend."
This pistachio cardamom pie is one of my favorite recent creations. It mimics some of the ingredients of a classic pecan pie, but it takes a fabulous Middle Eastern twist. In fact, it's completely inspired by the massive amounts of baklava I enjoyed in Istanbul a few years ago. Did I mention it would be a delicious treat for any new year's eve party? (By the way, this pie is the one in the top left corner of the table in our "pie cutting" photo.)
Ingredients:
--my homemade pie crust, rolled and ready to go (available here)
--3 large eggs
--1/2 c. light brown sugar
--1/4 c. granulated sugar
--1 c. light corn syrup
--1 tsp. ground cardamom
--2 c. chopped pistachios
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, corn syrup, and cardamom. Line the bottom of your pie shell with the pistachios. Pour the wet mixture over the pistachios and bake for about 35 minutes (or until the center begins to puff up). Remove from oven and allow to cool.
