whipped vanilla ganache that is filled with a caramelized apple filling, pate brisee pie dough, and decorated to look like a red apple, and is bursting with flavor in each bite.
130ghigh quality white chocolateI recommend brands like Callebaut (CW2 white, 28%), Valrhona (Ivoire 35%) and Cacao Barry (Blanc Satin, 30%)
4gelatin sheetsbloomed in cold water.
Pate brisee (pie dough) recipe – flaky tart dough
225gall-purpose flour
112gbuttercut into 1-inch pieces, cold
4gKosher salt
60-85gice cold water
Chocolate couverture:
200gwhite chocolate
200gcocoa butter
1vanilla beanoptional
Red food coloringoil based
Instructions
Caramelized Apple insert:
Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise using a paring knife, remove the seeds. Wash and cut the apples in brunoise (small, uniformed dices).
Cook the brunoise apple in low heat to partially remove water content in a saucepan. In a different pot, caramelize the brown sugar.
Once the sugar is caramelized, add the apples, butter, salt, vanilla seeds, and spices.
Keep cooking on low heat until the ingredients are well incorporated, and the mixture thickens.
Place the caramelized apples into small 2in diameter hemisphere silicone molds (Pavoni FR039) . Let cool and freeze, ideally overnight.
Once set, remove from the mold and combine two to form the sphere, which is the apple insert.
Vanilla bean whipped ganache recipe
Bloom gelatin by placing in a bowl containing at least 6 times the weight of gelatin sheets in cold water.
Chop the chocolate in small pieces, place in a heatproof bowl.
Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise using a paring knife, remove the seeds. Place the seeds and the pod in a saucepan containing the heavy cream.
Heat the heavy cream to a light boil. Remove from the heat and let steep for 15-30min. Remove the vanilla bean pod, add the inverted sugar and salt, heat until it begins to gently boil
Pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 30-60s, do not disturb.-Stir gently with a spatula first then emulsify with a hand blender.
Squeeze water from the gelatin, add to the chocolate mixture and mix with the hand blender. Avoid making too many bubbles.
Cover with plastic wrap, let cool to room temperature and place in the fridge for at least 8hr to set. Best to do overnight.
Remove from the fridge and place in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip with a whisk attachment, do this at a low setting until smooth and fluffy, be careful to no overwhip or the ganache could break.
Pate brisee (pie dough) recipe – flakytart dough
Preheat oven to 400F
Cut the butter into small uniform pieces (1 inch). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, add flour, salt and cold butter. Mix butter into flour on low speed until the butter is pea sized.
Slowly add the cold water, do not add it all but do until the dough comes together at this point stop mixing.
Add flour to the table and form a ball with the dough, using a knife or bench scraper divide it into 8 pieces.
Using the lower part of the hand, push each portioned dough against the kitchen counter (this process is called fraisage)
Place up to 4 doughs on top of each other and carefully combine them to form a ball (do not knead or over work the dough). Cover with plastic film and let rest in the fridge.
Roll the dough to 1/4in on a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin.
Cut the dough using a cookie cutter slightly bigger than the size of the bottom of the apple, check the size by comparing with the mold, the bottom of the apple will be the top of the mold.
Place the cut dough discs in a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment on top and another sheet tray to weight down the dough while baking. Bake for 15-20min, or until golden brown.
Chocolate couverture:
Melt white chocolate and cocoa butter in a double boiler, add coloring and mix well with a hand blender. Optional: add vanilla bean seeds to provide specks to make the apple look more realistic.
Keep warm until use. The mixture can be reheated in the microwave by short burst of 30s until completely melted.
Assembly:
Pipe whipped ganache (after overnight resting) 2/3 of the way in the apple molds. Use a spatula to push against the walls.
Place the frozen apple insert.
Add more ganache and smooth the top with a spatula. Freeze the mold for at least 8hr, better overnight.
Remove the apple from the mold and dip immediately into the chocolate couverture mixture, which should be between 90-95F. Use a deep container to fit the apple properly and use a wooden skewer stick to dip the apple.
I recommend removing each apple individually from the mold and place the mold back in the freezer, the temperature is very important, as if the apples remain outside too long after removing from the mold there will be condensation building up and the coating with the chocolate won’t be effective.
Remove the chocolate excess from the bottom of the apple by gently patting it against a flat surface, like a silicone mat.
Place the apple immediately on the pate brisee. Add a chocolate stem made with either tempered chocolate or candy melts in the hole made with the skewer.
Place in the fridge to thaw for 2-4hr before serving.