Double Crusted Apple Taart

It is autumn and it is the time for apple pie. Yes, apple taart is apple pie. Last month, we went to a an apple picking day at Philips Fruituin, a fruit orchard nearby. They had 3 apple and pear picking days for the public per year. We brought the children for the first time there this year and they loved it. The weather was also good and that was why, to avoid the parking trouble, we went by bicycle. We placed the kids in the carriage behind my husband's bike. This way, we would be able to carry our bags and fruit later easily. 

The fruit orchard carries several types of apples and pears. Besides the fruit orchard, they also have a pancake house and a nature product shop in the area. Since it was one of the open days for public, the pancake house was full of people. It was difficult to find a table, and the waiting time was also quite long. However, we love the pancake and my husband loved the apple syrup they used for the pancake. Something that we do not usually put in our shopping basket when we go to the supermarket. Usually, we only buy simple pancake syrup or maple syrup.

I used to be an apple/pear eater, but since my first pregnancy, I got apple&pear allergy. So, altough apple and pear are always in my shopping list, I am not participated in eating them at home. At least not fresh. I can only eat them, cooked.

One of the children favorites is apple taart. This time, I made them from scratched using different recipe for the skin. Instead of the usual Dutch's apple taart, I made taart with double crusted skin. As an alternative to the home made crusted skin, you can also use the ready to use pastry skin from the deep freeze area of the supermarket.

When I served this to the children and husband, they found the skin tastier than usual, and they also loved the apple that they picked themselves during the apple picking day. Too bad that a couple of hours of baking effort moved to the stomach only in a few minutes. After all, I loved to see their happy face while eating the apple taart.

Ingredients

For the double crusted skin

300 gram of all purpose flour

5 gram (around 1/2 tsp) salt

285 gram butter

80 ml ice water

For the filling

Around 1 kg apple, thinly sliced

110 gram brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2  tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

3 tbsp butter, cut in small cubes

1 tsp ginger powder

2 tbsp tapioca flour

How to make

1. To prepare the pastry: Stir the flour and salt using the bread knead hook. Add the butter (cut into small cubes), while mixing it with the flour. After we get a consistency like coarse sand, add the water gradually while still mixing the flour. You may not need all the water. You should get moist dough, but not wet. Divide the dough into 2/3 and 1/3 portions, roll it a bit into a round shape and cover both dough portions with the plastic wrap. Keep it refrigerated until you use them (at least 30 minutes)

2.  In a big bowl, combine the apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and tapioca flour. Fold in the butter. Put aside.

3. Take out the pastry from the refrigerator. Roll the bigger portion into bigger circle and arrange it in the mold to cover the bottom and sides of the mold. 

4. Fill in the pastry with the apple mixture.

5. Roll the smaller portion into bigger circle and cover the top of the apple tart with the rolled dough. Pressed the edges of the dough to the mold to avoid the filling sipping out of the apple taart. You may cut a pattern on the pastry to let the steam out of the taart while baking, or just to make a nice pattern.

6. While arranging the dough and apple, preheat the oven 200 degree Celcius. 

7. Brush the top of the taart with milk. Bake the taart for 15 minutes in 200 degree C, and after that continue baking the taart for another 30 minutes at 180 degree Celcius, or until it is golden brown. Let it cool before serving it.

And here is one of my dearest boy, waiting for the permission to eat the apple taart. Earlier that day, one of his finger got caught between the door during morning rush to the school. So the taart is his "medicine" that day.

Roasted Pumpkin Vegetable Soup

Vegetable is one of the important food that we need to prepare for our family. Although we are not vegetarian, I always love to prepare vegetable based food. Especially, made from fresh seasonal vegetables. The taste and freshness and especially the feast of colour, always excite me.

My children always love different type of fruits and vegetables. Last weekend, we went to apple picking day. It was a nice sunny autumn day and at the gate of the orchard, we saw a man selling bio pumpkin. I did try to grow my own, but we did not get any pumpkin until now. And since my first born boy loves pumpkin soup so much, we decided to buy one. More than enough for a big pot of soup.

He was very happy early this week, when I finally cooked the pumpkin. He even refused to eat the rice that I also served that day. His brother, also loved the soup but not as much as him.

The making process is surely not fast, but it is quite easy. But despites the process and time required, I think the taste worth the effort. It is also quite healthy and promotes eating more vegetable.

Ingredients
Around 600 gram pumpkin
1 medium orange colour sweet potato
1 medium potato (you can subtitute this with sweet potato)
A handfull of cauliflower floret
3-4 carrot
1 onion
300 ml chicken stock diluted into around 2-2.5 litre
125-150 ml creme fraiche/heavy cream for cooking
1 -1.5 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper (I used aromatic pepper with orange)
a dash of lemon juice
Basillicum leaves

How to make
1. Cut the pumpkin, clean from the seeds, wash and cut. If it is a bio pumpkin, you do not need to cut the outer skin, just scrap it clean when you wash it.
2. Peel the skin of the sweet potato, wash and cut.
3. Roast the pumpkin and sweet potato in the oven for around 40 minutes or until it is soft enough.
You will cook it again with the soup later.

4. Meanwhile, peel the potato, carrot and onion and cut them. Cut also the cauliflower.
5. Boil the chicken stock and water (2-2.5ltr)
6. Add into soup the onion, carrot, potato, cauliflower, sweet potato, pumpkin.
7. Boil until the vegetables become softer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it cool.
8. Using the hand blender, blend the soup until smooth.
9. Take a spoonful of the soup and mix it with the creme fraiche to make a smooth mixture. Add the mixture into the soup and blend it again a bit with the hand blender.
10. Boil it again a bit before serving. Serve it with basillicum leaves and a dash of lemon juice, if you like.