Fruit Torte...
Sep. 7th, 2014 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meowmensteenI'm just making this post because someone asked for my torte recipe. It's much too long to write in a comment.
Sure. You might have to convert it if you don't use cups or ounces. I hope this makes sense. I don't actually have a recipe for this, so I'm just guessing on the amounts.
The shortbread is:
4oz (1/2 cup) of butter softened
6oz (about 2/3 cup) of white sugar
1/2 of an egg*
1 tsp of vanilla or seeds from 1/4 a vanilla bean
8oz (just over 1 cup) of all purpose flour, sifted
Scale the sugar first. If you're using the vanilla bean, cut it open and rub it in the sugar until all the seeds are removed. This seems to be the easiest way for me to get as much from the bean as I can. Then stir in the butter with a wooden spoon. You don't have to cream it, but make sure there are no butter lumps. Break your egg into a small container and mix it up a bit. Pour half of the egg into the butter/sugar mixture (*save the other half of the egg for brushing on the torte later). Just mix in the egg until it all looks uniform. If you cream this part too much, the shortbread tends to spread too much when you bake it. Add the flour and stir in. It will be crumbly at first, but eventually it will all work together into a dough. Separate it into two parts then pat them down into flat circles about five inches round, wrap them up, then put them in the fridge for maybe a half hour. If you let the dough get too cold it will crack when you try to roll it out. If that happens, you can just work the dough a bit with your hands to soften it.
I bake my tortes in a 10 inch by 1 inch ring on parchment. You can also do them in a cake or pie pan, but remember not to put the dough all the way up the sides. You want something much shorter than a pie.
Preheat oven to 400F (much hotter than you would for pie)
Roll out the chilled dough (use flour to keep it from sticking). With the first piece, make a circle big enough to fill your ring and go up the sides. If you're using a pie or cake pan, measure the bottom of your pan, and then cut a circle that gives you a 1 inch border. Pick up your circle by rolling it onto your rolling pin, and then unrolling it into your pan. If you let the dough get too warm, it will be hard to move it without it breaking. If you're using the ring, you don't have to cut the circle, just pick up the dough you've rolled out (with the pin) and place it on the ring. Relax the dough into the edges, then cut the dough flush with the top of the ring.
Cut enough fruit to fill the pan, plus a bit to make it dome a bit. Softer fruits do not need to be pre-cooked, but harder ones like apples will need to be cooked first.
For softer fruit. Place the fruit in a bowl. Add 1 cup of sugar, a bit of cinnamon, maybe some nutmeg or allspice if you like, and 1/3 cup of cornstarch. Fold this all together then place the fruit into the crust.
For harder fruit (and blueberries apparently) Cut up the fruit and put them in a saucepan with about 1/3 cup of water. Boil the fruit until it is tender...meanwhile in a small bowl mix 1 cup of sugar with 1/3 cup of cornstarch and whatever spices you like. Make sure all the starch is mixed in and there are no clumps...When the fruit is tender and still boiling, pour in the sugar/starch mixture while quickly stirring the fruit. Keep stirring and cooking until the mixture is thick and mostly clear. Be careful not to burn it to the bottom at this point. It's a good idea to let this filling cool before you put it in the crust (you might want to make this ahead of time), but it's not the end of the world if you don't want to wait. It will just make it harder to do the lattice on top.
Once the fruit is in the crust, roll out the second piece of dough into a rectangle about as tall as the torte, and as wide as you can get away with. Don't make it too thin. Cut the dough into strips. I like to use a cutter that gives it a ruffled edge. You can either just criss-cross the strips on top, or put the effort into weaving them together. Cut the ends off of the strips once they're all places properly.
Take the rest of your egg and brush it on top of the dough. This makes it pretty and shiny.
Bake it in your hot oven for 20-30 minutes. It's done with the shortbread looks golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.
I like to roll out the extra dough and cut it into little squares. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on each piece and bake them for five minutes. They will burn quickly, don't burn them. They make nice little cookies.
Make sure the torte is mostly cooled before you try to remove the ring. You can probably just keep it in the pie or cake pan.
Sure. You might have to convert it if you don't use cups or ounces. I hope this makes sense. I don't actually have a recipe for this, so I'm just guessing on the amounts.
The shortbread is:
4oz (1/2 cup) of butter softened
6oz (about 2/3 cup) of white sugar
1/2 of an egg*
1 tsp of vanilla or seeds from 1/4 a vanilla bean
8oz (just over 1 cup) of all purpose flour, sifted
Scale the sugar first. If you're using the vanilla bean, cut it open and rub it in the sugar until all the seeds are removed. This seems to be the easiest way for me to get as much from the bean as I can. Then stir in the butter with a wooden spoon. You don't have to cream it, but make sure there are no butter lumps. Break your egg into a small container and mix it up a bit. Pour half of the egg into the butter/sugar mixture (*save the other half of the egg for brushing on the torte later). Just mix in the egg until it all looks uniform. If you cream this part too much, the shortbread tends to spread too much when you bake it. Add the flour and stir in. It will be crumbly at first, but eventually it will all work together into a dough. Separate it into two parts then pat them down into flat circles about five inches round, wrap them up, then put them in the fridge for maybe a half hour. If you let the dough get too cold it will crack when you try to roll it out. If that happens, you can just work the dough a bit with your hands to soften it.
I bake my tortes in a 10 inch by 1 inch ring on parchment. You can also do them in a cake or pie pan, but remember not to put the dough all the way up the sides. You want something much shorter than a pie.
Preheat oven to 400F (much hotter than you would for pie)
Roll out the chilled dough (use flour to keep it from sticking). With the first piece, make a circle big enough to fill your ring and go up the sides. If you're using a pie or cake pan, measure the bottom of your pan, and then cut a circle that gives you a 1 inch border. Pick up your circle by rolling it onto your rolling pin, and then unrolling it into your pan. If you let the dough get too warm, it will be hard to move it without it breaking. If you're using the ring, you don't have to cut the circle, just pick up the dough you've rolled out (with the pin) and place it on the ring. Relax the dough into the edges, then cut the dough flush with the top of the ring.
Cut enough fruit to fill the pan, plus a bit to make it dome a bit. Softer fruits do not need to be pre-cooked, but harder ones like apples will need to be cooked first.
For softer fruit. Place the fruit in a bowl. Add 1 cup of sugar, a bit of cinnamon, maybe some nutmeg or allspice if you like, and 1/3 cup of cornstarch. Fold this all together then place the fruit into the crust.
For harder fruit (and blueberries apparently) Cut up the fruit and put them in a saucepan with about 1/3 cup of water. Boil the fruit until it is tender...meanwhile in a small bowl mix 1 cup of sugar with 1/3 cup of cornstarch and whatever spices you like. Make sure all the starch is mixed in and there are no clumps...When the fruit is tender and still boiling, pour in the sugar/starch mixture while quickly stirring the fruit. Keep stirring and cooking until the mixture is thick and mostly clear. Be careful not to burn it to the bottom at this point. It's a good idea to let this filling cool before you put it in the crust (you might want to make this ahead of time), but it's not the end of the world if you don't want to wait. It will just make it harder to do the lattice on top.
Once the fruit is in the crust, roll out the second piece of dough into a rectangle about as tall as the torte, and as wide as you can get away with. Don't make it too thin. Cut the dough into strips. I like to use a cutter that gives it a ruffled edge. You can either just criss-cross the strips on top, or put the effort into weaving them together. Cut the ends off of the strips once they're all places properly.
Take the rest of your egg and brush it on top of the dough. This makes it pretty and shiny.
Bake it in your hot oven for 20-30 minutes. It's done with the shortbread looks golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.
I like to roll out the extra dough and cut it into little squares. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on each piece and bake them for five minutes. They will burn quickly, don't burn them. They make nice little cookies.
Make sure the torte is mostly cooled before you try to remove the ring. You can probably just keep it in the pie or cake pan.
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