“This” referring to a food-centric meeting of Moody Food and the CSA Files.
N. was in town last weekend, and miraculously so was I, so we scrambled to get something on the calendar. As it happens, it was Eat Drink Local week, and Something ended up being dinner at Almond followed by dessert chez moi. N. is phenomenally talented in the kitchen, but allergic to measuring spoons and cups, so there is not a whole lot of baking going on in the Moody Food kitchen. So I offered her a few options, and she put in a request for Orangette’s Apple Tart Cake (an excellent choice).
It’s sort of an odd recipe, really. It’s not quite a tart, not quite a cake. There’s a thin cake-like base, and then slices of apples layered on that, topped with an egg-y sugar-y wash of sorts.
For the base, run a food processor with sugar, flour, butter, egg, and a bit of vanilla and baking powder. Press it into a buttered & floured springform pan (mine is 9 1/2″, not 9″, and causes no noticeable problems). Then you will need to peel, core, and slice a bunch of apples. This is the only remotely difficult part of this recipe. Peeling apples is kind of annoying, and slicing them into equally-sized pieces is also sort of a pain. And THEN you have to layer them on top of the base in concentric circles. The recipe calls for three large apples, which will seem like way too much, but it’s ok. Squish them all in anyway. You’ll probably need to go back and add in a few pieces here and there, just to use them all up, and it seems like work, but do it. I like the way it looks if you alternate the direction of the slices on each circle, because every once in a while, I can bring myself to care about presentation.
Bake that in a hot oven for 45 minutes, and then pour the egg wash on top–a mix of egg, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. I am in the process of switching my whole spice cabinet over to Penzeys, and I have to say, their Extra Fancy Vietnamese really makes a difference. Really, though, just use the best cinnamon you can find, and bake another 25 minutes.
Orangette says this is better made the day before you intend to eat it, and I am not one to argue. I baked this Saturday afternoon for our Sunday dinner, and it was wonderful, with a bottle of Sauternes, and a little Thai basil ice cream and a little raspberry sherbet on the side…
Next time she’s here, we’re going to cook together properly. Which may or may not end up being something for the French Fridays with Dorie project we’ve both signed up for.
No matter what, I can predict that dessert will be my responsibility.
The CSA Files 
Not to sound like an adolescent, but OMG. My heart is racing just thinking about that cake! *So* good! That cinnamon, the egg-y, custard-y fabulousness, all those apples. Oh my goodness.And yes, with an act like that, L, there is no way I am going to try to follow. Dessert is hereinafter your responsibility.I cannot wait until our next meeting of the stomachs. Cannot wait.