Method.—Pare, core and cut the apples into thick slices, put them into a stewpan with the sugar, butter, and 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls of water, and cook very gently until tender. Pass the apples through a hair sieve, add more sugar, if necessary, and put the purée into a pie-dish lined with pastry (see Apple Amber, No. 1676).
Bake in a quick oven until the paste has risen and set, then add the prepared custard, and bake more slowly until the pastry is sufficiently cooked and the custard firm. Serve either hot or cold.
Time.—From 40 to 50 minutes. Average Cost, 1s. 4d. to 1s. 6d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
1680.—APPLE TURNOVER.
See Fruit or Jam Turnovers, No. 1708.
1681.—APRICOT BOUCHÉES. (Fr.—Bouchées d'Abricots.)
Ingredients.—Puff paste (No. 1665), 1 tin of preserved apricots, castor sugar, ¼ of a pint of whipped-cream.
Method.—When the paste has had the necessary number of turns, roll it out to rather less than ½ an inch in thickness. With a hot wet cutter stamp out some rounds about 2 inches in diameter, and make a deep, circular indentation with a smaller cutter. Bake in a quick oven, and when cool scoop out the paste within the ring. Meanwhile well drain the apricots from the syrup, put half an apricot, the rounded side down, into each case, and fill the hollow with stiffly-whipped sweetened cream.
Time.—12 minutes to bake. Average Cost, 2d. each.
1682.—APRICOT TART. (Fr.—Tourte d'Abricots.)
Ingredients.—1 tin of apricots, sugar to taste, short paste (No. 1667).
Method.—Place the apricots in a pie-dish, sprinkle with sugar, and half fill the dish with the syrup from the tin. Cover with paste (see Apple Tart, No. 1678), and bake in a quick oven from 30 to 40 minutes. When the paste has risen and set, brush it over lightly with cold water, and dredge well with castor sugar. Return quickly to the oven, and finish baking.
Time.—About 1¼ hours. Average Cost, 1s. to 1s. 2d. Sufficient for 5 to 7 persons.
Apricots.—The apricot is indigenous to the plains of Armenia, but is now cultivated in almost every climate, temperate or tropical. There are several varieties. The skin of this fruit has a perfumed and highly esteemed flavour. A good apricot, when perfectly ripe, is an excellent fruit. It has been somewhat condemned for its laxative qualities, but this has possibly arisen from the fruit having been eaten unripe, or in too great quantity. Delicate persons should not eat the apricot uncooked, without a liberal allowance of powdered sugar. This fruit makes excellent jam and marmalade, and there are several foreign preparations of it, which are considered great luxuries.
