Nice as Pie

I had some friends over for brunch at the weekend. They wanted to check out what I had done with the house since we moved in. One of these visitors is my friend S who made this gorgeous chocolate cake before. I’d planned on getting up early and making some fresh bread in a bread maker that I’ve borrowed. I was also going to try out another of the Donna Hay cakes. But a night out at the restaurant in the very stylish Kirkton Hotel put the kibosh on that. The last time I was at this restaurant it was called Salt and was pretty good. The most memorable thing about that last meal was that J ordered Squab not knowing what it was. Little experimenter that he is, he ended up with a plate of pigeon!!! You live and learn.

Now the restaurant at the Kirkton Hotel is aptly named Kirketon Dining Room & Bar. It’s all dark wood and leather booths and the food is distinctively French. We had a divine meal. We were very generously treated to this night of indulgence by our housemate S who is leaving us after four months of fun. Was it something we said? … no, she’s off to India. We had the pleasure of enjoying some very expensive French wine but I have to say even though it cost an arm and a frogs leg we all ended up very merry and with very sore heads the next day. Of course the G&T we had before we left and the cocktails we had with all the beautiful people probably didn't help either.

And that’s my roundabout way of explaining why the fresh bread never eventuated. My hangover meant I didn’t get the bread dough into the bread making machine until 9:00. When I pressed the magic “Make it” button it told me I had 3 hours to wait until it was baked and my friends were arriving in an hour. Opps it was off to the shop for some freshly baked croissants for me. Of course S brought her own little treats with her as she is a great baker herself. We tucked into her cinnamon swirl scones and blueberry friands. I love the old fashioned food server that S brought her treats in.

Unfortunately there was no need for my Donna Hay apple tart. Not to worry though, we did manage to polish it off later. I was impressed that the apples didn’t discolour. It must have been the syrup on them. The almond and pistachio filling was particularly nice in this cake.

Apple and Almond Tart

2 x 24.5cm ready prepared butter puff pastry sheets, thawed
filling
1 cup almond meal(ground almonds)
1/4 cup caster sugar
35g unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, whisked
2 tlbsp honey
1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
apple syrup
2 cups water
2 cups caster sugar
4 pink lady apples, thinly sliced

to make the apple syrup, place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 10 mins then remove from the heat. Allow the syrup to cool completely then add the apples. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180C. To make the filling , place the almond meal and sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter, egg and honey and stir well to combine.Fold through the pistachios and the walnuts and set aside.

Cut out 2 23.5cm rounds from the pastry sheets. Cut out a 19.5cm round from one of the rounds to creat a border and discard the centre. PLace the border on top of the larger pastry sheet. PLace on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper. Spread the filling in the centerof the pastry and cook for 20-25 mins or until puffed and golden.

To serve, remove the apple slices from the syrup, place on top of the pastery and drizzle with some of the syrup.