Tuesdays with Dorie baking through
Baking with Julia
by
Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Bakers:
Johanne Killeen (#1) /
Leslie Mackie (#2)
This week we had the option of making one of two recipes. I decided on both, after reading how easy they each were to put together.
Dessert #1
This cobbler comes together quickly and can be made on a moments notice; especially if you have some fruit laying around that needs using up.
I wish I had fruit laying around - it probably would have been more flavorful. I used a combination of white peaches, white nectarines, and plums. The peaches and nectarines were a tad on the firmer side (equates to not being super flavorful). The plums - perfect. However, they pretty much disintegrated after sautéeing.
The biscuit topping calls for stone-ground white cornmeal (there is an actual cornmeal called
johnnycake meal - hence the name of the dessert). I went with your basic Alber's yellow corn meal. The corn meal gives a nice pleasing crunch to the biscuit topping.
The instructions say to bake the cobblers until the topping is a nice golden brown, which mine were. So very beautifully browned. Yet, they were a bit raw in the center. You may want to take a wooden skewer and test it before pulling them out of the oven, and if they are raw, but browned, cover with a piece of aluminum foil and continue baking till done.
To me, these were just OK. I'm thinking some cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom added to the filling would be a nice addition.
Dessert #2
Easy as this is to make, it's not as quick as dessert number one. Once the dough is made, it needs to chill for one hour before rolling out, and again for another thirty minutes after the tart is filled (the filling needs to cool to room temp as well) and completed. The tart also needs to cool
completely before slicing. Do not cut into it while still warm as I did, no matter how much you want to. The filling will start to ooze out. This does not make for a very visually appealing slice of pie.
If you look closely at the photo, you will notice this is not your typical lattice work. Normally you place your strips across the pie in even increments, then you fold back every other strip and lay a single strip perpendicular to the parallel strips. Unfold your parallel strips over the single strip, then fold back the opposite strips of last, placing another single strip as before, and continue in this manner until your pie is covered.
Here she has you place one strip vertically down the left side of your tart and then place the next strip horizontally across the top of the tart, crossing the first. You continue this way until your pie is covered. Not only is this way easier and quicker, but there is no way this dough would hold up being folded back and forth as described above. I had a few instances where my dough would break upon transferring from the cookie sheet to the tart.
This dough has an interesting flavor and texture. The texture is almost cookie like, not flaky like your typical pie dough. And the toasted almonds and sesame seeds give it a touch of earthiness.
At first, having a slice of this beautiful dessert slightly warm, I was not impressed. I took half of the pie to a friends house, and she and her husband thought it was tasty, as did my sister, who I took a slice to as well. My sister says the crust reminds her of those cookies at Christmas time that come in the
big blue tin - the ones that are shaped like a pretzel. Really the only resemblance is the coarse sugar topping (they are a butter cookie). But that's OK. I think those cookies are delicious.
However! Having another slice the following morning and then again two days later (hope you are not reading this Kelley! :}), I thought it to be quite good. It's so much better cold.
You simmer half of the fruit with some sugar, flour, lemon zest and butter (as I type this, I don't recall adding butter..) until the fruits break down, release their juices, and the liquid thickens. Then you add the remaining fruit and some lemon juice to taste.
The dough did not feel sticky to the touch, but it did stick to my rolling pin. I ended up rolling it between two pieces of parchment paper. The dough for the lattice topping is cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips. (As you can see, I cut my strips closer to 1/4-inch-wide.)
The parchment paper made for an easy transfer to the pie tin. (Rather than trying to lightly roll the dough over the rolling pin to transfer.)
After the tart has chilled, brush with egg white and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
