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Peach Tart
Line a pie-dish with puff paste, put twelve half peaches at the bottom, dust over with two or three tablespoonfuls of finely-powdered sugar, pour over one-half wineglassful of any white wine; over this put six chopped apples, and one breakfast cupful of rich custard flavored with noyau, cover with more paste, put a piece of paper over that, and bake in a moderate oven. When done, spread the top over with two well-whipped whites of eggs, mixed with one tablespoonful of powdered sugar; over this arrange preserved cherries and imitation leaves cut out of angelica, arranging them according to fancy. Place the pie in the oven for a few minutes so as to set the egg, and it is then ready for serving; or it may be served cold.
A late-Victorian showpiece tart: a double-crusted fruit and custard pie finished with meringue and candied decoration. The instructions assume a cook who already knows how to handle puff paste and a slack oven, so a few numbers need filling in.
- The hinge: the custard must set gentlyA cupful of rich custard baked inside a sealed pastry case will curdle if the oven runs hot. Bake at 350F, and the paper laid over the top crust is there to keep the pastry from colouring before the filling is set — keep it on for most of the bake.
- Moderate oven350F. Expect 45 to 60 minutes for a filled tart of this depth, judged by a custard that barely trembles at the centre.
- Wineglassful and breakfast cupfulA wineglass is about 2 fl oz, so half a wineglassful is roughly 1 fl oz, about 2 tablespoons of white wine. A breakfast cup is larger than a teacup — reckon 8 to 10 fl oz of custard.
- NoyauA kernel-flavoured liqueur, historically made by steeping peach or apricot pits, and tasting of bitter almond. Use commercial crème de noyaux or a few drops of almond extract; do not attempt a home infusion of peach or apricot kernels, which carry amygdalin.
- AngelicaCandied stems of Angelica archangelica, sold in bright green batons by confectioners and still available from baking suppliers. It is cut into leaf shapes purely for decoration. Buy it candied rather than foraging — several umbellifers that resemble angelica are seriously poisonous.
- The peaches and applesPeel the peaches by blanching them; the skins toughen unpleasantly under a lid of pastry. Six chopped apples on top of twelve peach halves is a great deal of raw fruit for one dish, and they will throw juice — use firm cooking apples, chop them small, and expect a wet tart rather than a sliceable one.
- Puff paste beneathA puff-paste base under a wet custard filling will go soft. Blind-bake the bottom, or use a shortcrust below and save the puff for the lid.
- The meringueTwo whites to one tablespoon of sugar is a very lean meringue by modern standards and will weep if it stands. Whip to firm peaks, spread to the crust edge to seal it, and give it 5 to 8 minutes in the oven to set and lightly colour.
- YieldProbably something like a 9-inch dish, serving around eight, though the recipe gives no size. Better warm than hot; the custard firms as it cools.
Oscar Tschirky was never the Waldorf's chef — he was its maître d'hôtel — but the 1896 book that carries his name gathered the working repertoire of a great American hotel kitchen at the moment when it was still frankly Anglo-French. This tart shows that inheritance clearly: an English fruit pie with two crusts, filled out with a French crème and finished in the manner of an entremets, with meringue, preserved cherries and angelica leaves "arranged according to fancy." Noyau, the kernel liqueur, was a standard flavouring of the period and turns up constantly in nineteenth-century puddings and ices, prized for giving almond character to fruit desserts; peaches and their own kernels were regarded as a natural pairing. The candied angelica and glacé cherries mark the dish as one meant to be looked at from across a dining room, which is the point of a hotel dessert.