A Procrastination Tart

Procrastination and mushy, bordering on inedible, apples have led me to bake this:

I used this recipe from smittenkitchen.com but originally by Alice Waters, who gives due credit to Jacques Pepin. So basically it's a Jacques Pepin tart.

Hours spent pouring over text about American 1950s attitudes toward middle class marriage has left me drained, and faltering on words. So instead, I offer up photographs of my tart baking exploits.

That being said I would like to add that the key to a good tart crust is in always having cold ingredients, even if that means chilling the dough in between steps. Be sure the water is ice cold and the butter is chilled. I even chill the dough in the fridge once rolled and put in the pie shell. I’ve found it makes all the difference in a flakey, light crust.




Ina Garten, whom I love with much of my heart, makes an apricot glaze for her tarts. She melts apricot jam and drizzles it over the tart before putting it in the oven. Inspired by this concept, but lacking apricot jam, I used raspberry jam instead. I added a glob of butter, in true Ina fashion, to the melted raspberry jam as well. I thought this was the needed touch and advise dribbling any melted jam when making this tart.



Also, on a more general note, one way to tell when a tart is done is by looking at the bubbles. Fast, quick bubbles indicate that it’s not quite done but slow, larger bubbles mean that the tart is done and ready to be pulled out of the oven.
As with pies, however hard this may be, I think it is important to let the tart rest before serving. This allows the liquids to turn syrupy rather than be runny.


So as this gem of a paper is due Wednesday, I leave you with this post and hope for more procrastination and possibly baked goods to come.

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