Wednesday, January 7, 2009

What a wonderful day spent with my daughter!

Finally, I am back to blogland! Since the kids have been out of school they have stayed on the computer non stop between the two of them! I haven't had a chance to peek in! They went back to school on Monday so life is getting almost back to normal (depending on who you ask!)
My daughter had a project assigned at school that she had been working on for weeks. Each student was given a Country that they had to research and do a report on. Included with the report, they had to prepare some sort of food from that Country that could be fed to the whole class. She was lucky enough to get France. I say lucky because some kids got Egypt and they prepared some drink with seaweed. I would not have had a clue about that one!
It came down to the night before her report was do so I made a quick dinner and she and I started on our French dessert! Just for the record, I am not a baker. I will craft for hours but I hate to cook!
We found a recipe for Tarte de Pommes a la Normande - which is actually an Apple Tart.
It was actually pretty simple to make and tasted AMAZING!
She and I set out peeling apples. LOTS of apples. She has a class of 30 so I knew we were going to need 2 tarts. Since I am not a baker, I do not have those wonderful apple peelers or apple corers that make this type of job a little easier. She and I worked together like a great mother and daughter team! We laughed, made a mess, talked about our days, and had a great time! It was so nice just to have some time to talk and laugh.
I cheated and used 2 frozed pie crusts. I wasn't even going to attempt to make those!
The following is the recipe:


Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons sour cream
Filling:
About 6 medium apples, peeled, pitted, and sliced
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Glaze:
1/2 cup apricot preserves or jelly
1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
Mint, for garnish
Whipped topping, for garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
To make the crust:
Place the flour, butter, and sour cream in a food processor and pulse to combine. When the dough has formed a ball, pat with lightly floured hands into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and 1/2-inch sides, or a round au gratin dish. Bake for about 18 minutes, until the crust is set but not browned. Let cool while preparing the filling.
Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
To make the filling:
Peel and thickly slice the apples. Arrange the apple slices in overlapping circles on top of the crust, until it's completely covered. Overfill the crust, as apples will shrink during cooking.
Combine the egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, and flour and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture over the apples. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, until the custard sets and is pale golden in color. Cover with an aluminum foil tent if the crust gets too dark. Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool. When cool, remove the side wall of the pan.
To make the glaze:
Combine the preserves or jelly and orange juice. Spread with a pastry brush over the top of the warm tart. Serve the tart warm, at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with fresh mint.
She took these to school with a tub of vanilla ice cream and they were a hit! She said the kids kept coming back for seconds! She made an A on her report so I guess all was okay. (Nobody was sick the next day, so I am okay!)
I kept trying to post the pictures of the finished tarts but Blogger kept giving me an error! Oh well, I will try to post those pics later!
I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

10 friends had to say:

Janene said...

Oh my! That apple tart sounds so delicious!!
I hope you can get your blogger photos to work because I would love to see the finished results!
I'm glad that nobody got sick!
I also want to add that there is something about working in the kitchen that brings a mother and daughter closer...I'm glad you had a memorable time!

•♦•©The Olde Weeping Cedar •♦• said...

Hi Nicole-
I was wonderin' where ya've been...glad your're back!
Those apple tarts do sound yummy! :) What a special mom-daughter project!

Have a wonderful evening!
hugs-Kath

Farmchick said...

Well Happy New Year and welcome back! I beginning to wonder where you went???

The apple tarts looks delish and what a wonderful way to spend time with your daughter!

basketsnprims said...

That sounds yummy. Glad to see you back in blogland.

Pam

Something Nice and Pretty said...

Glad your having such a good time with your daughter...the recipe sounds soooooo good and I'm so glad she got an A!
Rondell

Raggedy Angel said...

That sound yummy...I remember doing that with my son! You learn a lot! Beth

Pam B said...

Ah...I remember those days! Now when my daughter is in the kitchen, she wants to do it all by herself. Um, except for calling me fifteen times during a recipe to ask for advice! LOL

Days and colors said...

That sounds like a real nice project for both of you! The apple tart looks very good and since it was gone so fast, it must have tasted delicious! Glad to have you back!

My Colonial Home said...

Hi Nicole,
What a wonderful dish to make for her homework...now how can anyone call this homework? LOL

Sounds like the two of you had the best time, how cool is that.

Karen

carolyn@simple~primitive~devotion said...

What a fun time, and great that it turned out delicious too!
As our kids get older, we all need to stop and take the time to be with them as much as we can. Believe me, it passes too quickly!
Have a gerat week!