Malted Crisp Tart with Peanut Butter Maltballs

Dudes, this right here is last-meal type material. It's sort of involved—several bowls and pans and such—but it's this kind of methodical, delicious madness that makes the last day on earth worth living, right? Right! Say it with me: PEANUT BUTTER MALTBALLS. We're spending our end time wrapping presents and plotting Christmas brunch, but that's because we already survived our apocalyptic gauntlet when my aggressively jet-lagged family collided into a small rental house in DC last night. There were eyerolls, barks, threats, and meatloaf, but I sustained my sanity on memories of a just-finished road trip and this tart, enjoyed a few days prior in North Carolina with Joey's equally vibrant yet much more polite family. And that trip to North Carolina, along with our visits to Brooklyn, Philadelphia, DC, Richmond, and all the attendant pie shops, is really worth a few words, but my family is in town and we've got nerves to step on and cards to play. If you're hunkered down somewhere with your family, do yourselves the service of making this tart; it's involved and incredible and definitely worth it. Happy end times!

Malted Crisp Tart
Adapted from Baked Explorations, one of my very favorites 
Everyone online raved about this malted brown sugar crust, but it did not turn out for me which is totally my fault. I made the crust by hand and almost certainly overworked the butter, so it pooled in a sticky mess in my tart pan; I ended up using an easy press-in shortbread crust at the last minute since this tart was on a timeline! You’ll likely have no problem, but in the event that you do, this quick shortbread crust does the trick.  

For the crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt salt
1 tablespoon malted milk powder (Carnation brand is pretty easy to find at major grocery outlets)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into half-inch pieces
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the caramelized crispies
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups crispy rice cereal

For the ganache
8 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons malted milk powder

For the malted pastry cream
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
One large egg yolk
One large egg
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons malted milk powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 ounces heavy cream 
In addition: 1 cup crushed malt balls, along with any number of malt balls for decorating the top. I used peanut butter malt balls!

1. Make the crust: spray or butter a 9-inch tart pan. Pulse all of the crust ingredients in your food processor until you get a crumbly mixture, then press the crumbs into your tart pan; use a metal dry measure cup to press the bottom and sides to ensure even thickness. Put the tart crust into the freezer for at least 20 minutes. Or, wrap the unbaked crust and keep it in the freeze for up to a few days if you’re looking to make this ahead.

2.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove tart pan from the freezer, put it on a baking sheet, and bake it in the oven until golden brown, between 20 and 30 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

3. Make the caramelized crispies: line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or aluminum foil sprayed with vegetable oil. In a small saucepan, add the water and sugar, and bring to a boil over low heat; allow to boil for one minute. Add the rice cereal and stir with a rubber spatula until cereal is dry. Continue to cook, stirring all the while, until wisps of smoke rise and sugar turns deep amber. Stir to ensure that all the crispies are evenly coated, then dump out onto lined cookie sheet; break up the pieces so they don’t clump. This process will take about 30 minutes.

4. Make the ganache: place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, whisk the cream and malt powder then bring to a simmer over low heat. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate, allow to stand for two minutes, then whisk until smooth.

5.  Pour the ganache into your cooled tart shell, and press 1.5 cups of caramelized crispies and the crushed malt balls into the ganache. Pop into the fridge to cool and set while you make the malted cream.

6.  Make the malted diplomat cream: place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. In
a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, egg yolk, cornstarch, and the malted milk powder until it becomes pale yellow, about one minute. Then, in a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk half the warm milk into the egg mixture, then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Whisk the saucepan constantly until the mixture thickens--it will seem like a thin pudding--about five minutes. Take the cream off the heat nd whisk in the butter and vanilla. Pour the pastry cream through the sieve to remove any milk solids. Stick a piece of plastic wrap right on top of the pastry cream, and chill for at least an hour.

7.  Finish assembly: whisk the heavy cream in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk the pastry cream to lighten it, then fold in the whipped cream. Top the tart with with diplomat cream, and let set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving. When ready, garnish with leftover malt balls and caramelized crispies. Tart will keep for about three days in the fridge, covered, but is best on days one and two.

Make ahead: The crust, crispies, and diplomat cream can all be made ahead of time and put together a few hours before serving. Just remember that it’s best if the crust and ganache are given ample time to cool before you add the pastry cream.

Apple Cranberry Pie

It’s the morning of my departure from the farm, and I’m not convinced that I can think clearly enough to string together two thoughts about this delicious pie. Leaving has left me utterly verklempt. Joey and I have planned a sweet two-week road trip down to North Carolina and back up to DC for Christmas, but for the first time in a long time, I’m more focused on what I’m leaving behind than on what’s ahead; needless to say, working as a cheesemaker in Maine has been an experience that has me all sorts of choked up about what’s next.

While falling asleep in a cloud of wine fumes last night, I thought about a few of the standout moments from my “semester at sea.” There was that very first affirming market, seaside at Winter Harbor; an incredible cookout at Clover Crest farm and the attendant fables of a calf cannon for disposing of dead baby cows; that night of bootleg vodka and verbal perversions in Brewer; my first contra dance!; an abundance of but still never enough lake time; the sickening and bloody task of disbudding a few baby goats of their horns; that party at a radical collective farm down south that found me and Emily sleeping in the back of her truck; a few stoned and raucous nights around the table talking about salt and poking holes in each others' cultural theories; breeding the goats! petting the baby goats all the time! running with the goats!; I even loved mucking the barn. This has been a time of unprecedented mental and emotional challenge for me, and I’m sincerely grateful for all of it, particularly the parts that super sucked.

Another standout moment would of course be Thanksgiving, at which this pie won hearts and stomachs. Dave, a former chef who would rather retire to bed with a PB&J than eat something even remotely subpar, is fond of telling me that things I bake are “fine”; it’s his concise way of excusing himself for a sandwich. He who did not especially like my waffles, doughnuts, raspberry cake, latkes, goat cheese cheesecake, or banana bread--and you surely know where I’m headed here--fell head over heels with this pie. And so did I! The recipe is a spin on Yossy’s apple, quince, cranberry pie, and her combination of allspice, orange, and vanilla is just perfect. This was also my first cranberry-baking experience, and I ain’t lookin’ back. I will forever hold it against Dave for not taking me canoeing to pick cranberries from the riverbank, which is apparently a thing that they do here and just forgot to tell me about--curses! At least it’s something to look forward to and demand upon any future fall visits.

Meanwhile, it’ll probably be a bit silent here while I’m on the road, but there’s an exciting interview coming up soon and lots of holiday-spirited deliciousness in the archives. Just have a look around! And thanks, as always, for following along.
 

 Apple Cranberry Pie

Adapted from Apt. 2B Baking Co.’s Apple, Quince, Cranberry Pie

For the Crust
From Apt. 2B Baking Co. and I Made That!

Makes two, or enough for one lidded pie. Feel free to substitute in your favorite recipe.

12 ounces pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
8 ounces (two sticks) very cold butter
4 to 6 ounces ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1.  On a clean counter, dump your flour and salt; mix it around with a bench scraper. Chop one stick of butter into quarters, and cut it into the four with your bench scraper. When butter is about the size of lima beans, cut in the second stick, pulling, folding, and tossing with the bench scraper as you go, until the butter is about the size of quarters. Add the vinegar to the ice water.

2.  Using your fingers, flick the water onto the butter-flour mixture, gently folding with the bench scraper all the while. You have added enough water once the mixture holds together when squeezed; it should be very shaggy.

3.  Next, push the butter into the flour. Using the heel of your palm, push a small section of the dough down and away from you; this creates long layers of butter in your dough, which translates to long flaky layers in your crust. Use your bench scraper to scrape up the smear, and put it a bowl. Repeat until all the dough has been smeared and you have a bowlful of long, buttery layers. Push these into one mass, divide in half, wrap each in plastic, flatten into disks, and chill at least two hours, or better yet overnight.

For the Filling
5 or 6 large tart apples, about 3 pounds (I used Northern Spy and Empire)
1 cup fresh cranberries
zest and juice of one small lemon
zest and juice of half of an orange
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt salt
2 tablespoons butter (salted is my preference), cut into little cubes
1 egg yolk whisked with a touch of water, for topping
Large-grain sugar, for topping

1.  Prepare dough: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one half of your pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Gently fit it into a nine-inch pie plate, and place it in the fridge to chill. Roll out top dough into a 12- to 13-inch circle and, if planning to do a lattice-top pie, cut dough into eight to ten strips that are about one inch wide (I prefer the thick strips!). Place in the fridge to chill; it’s easiest for me to slide the strips on the back of a cookie sheet and into the fridge.

2.  Prepare filling: Peel and core the the apples, then cut them into half-inch slices (I kept my slices long, but you can cut them into chunks too if you prefer). Put the apples and cranberries into a large bowl, then gently toss with lemon and orange juices and zests. Add the sugar, vanilla bean pulp, flour, allspice, and salt, and stir to gently to combine.

3.  Assemble: Pour filling into the prepared pie shell, and dot with the bits of butter. Weave your lattice across the top (this is a great tutorial), or top with a full crust if you’d rather. Trim the overhanging crust pieces to about one inch, tuck under, and crimp. Cut some vents into the top if you’re carrying on with a full crust, brush with the egg yolk mixture, and sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of large-grain sugar.

4.  Slide pie onto a cookie sheet, and bake for 15 minutes on the lowest rack of your oven. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for another 40 to 50 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling up around the edges. Remove from oven and let pie cool for an hour or two before serving up with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream.