No. 3327

Apple Tartlets

Tartelettes aux Pommes

Line two dozen hollow tartlet molds with fine short paste (No. 135); fill them to half their height with apple marmalade (No. 3674) flavored with vanilla and on each one lay a round piece of apple cut out with a plain cutter the same diameter as the tartlet. On each slice of apple put a pinch of sugar, then cook in a hot oven. Unmold and cover each one with a thin layer of apricot marmalade (No. 3675).

Sour Apple Tartlets.—Have some deep tartlet molds and line them with short paste (No. 135), then fill three-quarters full with sour apple marmalade. Wet the edges of the tartlets and cover with a layer of the same short paste. Egg the surface and lay on each two rounds of parings of puff paste cut out with a channeled cutter and of graduating sizes; egg again and bake in a hot oven. These tartlets can be used as a garnishing for saddles of venison, etc.

Sour Apple Marmalade.—Peel and quarter some sour apples, put them in a basin, cover with water and cook on a good fire. As soon as done pour them on a sieve to drain well. Strain the pulp through a sieve into a basin, add the same weight of sugar and let reduce on the fire for a few moments. Pour into jars and leave to cool.

← No. 3326 Almondine Tartlets Small Cakes for Entremets No. 3328 Bordelaise Tartlets →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a professional kitchen where the numbered cross-references were all on hand; the notes below fill in what the modern cook has to supply.

Hot ovenPeriod usage for a "hot oven" is generally taken as somewhere around 425-450F, though Ranhofer gives no figure. The open tartlets need only long enough to set the paste and colour the apple slice, perhaps 15-20 minutes; the covered sour-apple version, being deeper and double-crusted, will want appreciably longer. Judge by colour rather than the clock.
Short paste (No. 135)Any firm sweet or plain short pastry works. Roll it thin, line the moulds, and chill them before filling so the sides hold their shape without weights.
Apple marmaladeNot marmalade in the citrus sense. It is a thick apple puree cooked down until it mounds on a spoon and no longer weeps; a wet puree will soak the base. Unsweetened thick applesauce reduced in a wide pan is the equivalent.
The sour apple pulpThe marmalade recipe given calls for an equal weight of sugar to drained pulp, which is jam-strength and very sweet by current taste. Weigh the drained pulp before deciding; two-thirds sugar still sets well enough for a filling that will be baked.
Apricot glazeApricot marmalade here means sieved apricot jam warmed until it flows, brushed on while the tartlets are still slightly warm. It sets to a shine and seals the surface.
Puff paste trimmingsThe two graduated discs on the sour apple tartlets are decorative rounds cut from leftover puff pastry with a fluted cutter, egg-washed twice so they colour deeply. Scraps of bought puff pastry serve.
Yield and servingThe first recipe lines two dozen small tartlet moulds, and these are best eaten the day they are baked. Ranhofer notes that the sour apple version can also be used as a garnish for saddles of venison and the like.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of his long service as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows how his book is organised: nothing is repeated, everything is cross-referenced by number, so a single page assumes the reader can turn to the paste at No. 135 and the marmalades at Nos. 3674 and 3675. He gives both a sweet, apricot-glazed open tartlet, placed here among the small cakes for entremets, and a deeper, closed sour-apple tartlet that he says can serve as a garnish for a game platter. Sharp apples cooked to a sweetened puree were a familiar accompaniment to venison and other dark meats, filling something like the role that fruit jellies and compotes still play beside game today. The apricot glaze brushed over a warm open tart is a classic patisserie finish, valued as much for keeping the fruit from drying as for the shine.