One game down, one more to go. At first, when I had this old man's request delayed in Vierzeberg, I thought I wasn't able to earn the Sage Hermitage Trophy again and I quit the game in frustration, thinking that going through all the hassle again was just plain tiring. So I switched to Atelier Escha & Logy, since I hadn't played it for a few weeks' time, and I'll be going back to university soon, so might as well. I first started Synthesizing equipment. After testing out alchemy in Atelier Ayesha, I was now eager to create more items with additional properties and effects. I really dunno what happened. Gathering courage, I marched back into the Unexplored Ruins to face Gullveig. The battle was quite surprising. I actually won O.O Even against Flameu. Owh Em Gee.
I just realized how easy Atelier Ayesha is compared to Atelier Escha & Logy O.O Multiple times I've been defeated by the Child of Terror and the Dreadnaught. Initially I thought the Child of Terror was Flameu, but it's actually a very powerful beast. At least the Ancient Dragon's no more, phew~ A brief victory party later, I realized all was not lost for Atelier Ayesha. So what if I missed that old man's request? Big deal. I still had others to complete, and they didn't say they require me to finish ALL villagers' quests. So I got my game on, won all Thrilling Treasure contests and voila~
Harry's ending
Sage Hermitage ending
Oh yeah~ XD
Continuing Logy's story, I reached a couple of endings. Only Escha's story's ending, Arwin's edning and the Guys' Gathering ending are missing :(
Threia's ending
True Ending :')
The Good Ending. It was shown in the anime adaption, too.
Linca's ending. I just realized that Marion's wearing the hair clip Linca bought for her in Atelier Ayesha :D
Reyfer's ending
Lucille's ending
I ended up having tears in my eyes when I was going through the Good Ending. Logy, don't go! :'( Ah well, new game it is. Back to the PS3.
I love the anime Lucky Star. Just enter the first episode and questions which we never really ponder about pop up: "Which end of the choco-cornet do you start from?" and "Which side's the head?" It's such a humorous slice-of-life kind of anime that I never get tired of. I never tried chocolate cornets before. I once bought a cream horn but the pastry is flaky and the filling is just some whipped cream with chocolate flakes mixed in. It just tasted too...oily :/ That was then, until I came across Cooking with Dog :D
I love Cooking with Dog ^^ It is because of the Japanese woman's channel that I started learning how to bake bread. At first, I was intimidated at the thought of baking bread, because you have to knead the dough and wait for it to proof and all that. But then, after making this cute seashell yumminess, I went all out and made loads, from melonpan to cinnamon rolls to Chinese steamed buns.
I filled mine with some Belgian chocolate spread instead, because I was still not gutsy enough to attempt anything custard. I'll get there. In time :P http://bakinginsaskatoon.com/2012/01/10/japanese-chocolate-cornets/ I found a written step-by-step recipe from the link above just so I could refer to it while making them delicious cornets. Achievement unlocked: Bread making XD A very nice snack to go with a Lucky Star marathon. You'll even learn a few tricks on how to eat one. I think? XD An alternate recipe for this comes from Nerdy Nummies :D I love Nerdy Nummies. Due to the time zone difference, when Nerdy Nummies was said to come out on every Tuesday, I'm only able to catch it on Wednesday, haha XD Two recipes available now, so take your pick!
This is my fourth attempt in playing Atelier Ayesha and my first time seeing Ayesha lost to not Harry Olsen, but Linca in the Treasure Trove Contest =w=lllllllll
I finally was able to defeat Keithgriff :D But he still took the weird instrument with him and escape anyways.
I didn't notice the little boy and a Homunculus on the top tier of the Plaza in Riesengang until now =w=lllllll After completing the boy's quest, he's gone :(
The Normadic Shoes and Corrective Glasses are really damn useful. Not to mention the Metastasis Wing! They're all time savers! At first I thought the Metastasis Wing would disappear after using it, but it's still intact! :D And I still have more time to spare~
Owh Emm Gee, I've seen MasterLL's video on defeating the Grand Dragon, and I was awed by the multiple coloured numbers flying after each hit at the enemy. Like, how did he synthesize all that??? REALLY BIG THANKS to MasterLL and Malduke's guide in synthesizing all the ultimate gear and schedule for the game! Now my party can defeat enemies with flying coloured numbers and I manage to complete the villagers' requests ~ *whoops of triumph ensue
'A Garden of Memories' Trophy achieved~
I now have 2 Dragon Amulets XD
Now my party members have matching Dragon Scale Icons and Soul Trap Chains.
With the ultimate gear in hand, I didn't think defeating the Compact Dragon is that piece of cake, but then after just a few blows and had him annihilated, the joy, the adrenaline...they're just not there :( There's no challenge at all.
SO, I loaded the saved file again and kicked the Grand Dragon's posterior >:D Multiple times! Cuz I found out that the monsters respawn even after you defeated them.
Since I have so much time on my hands, I sometimes travel without using the Wing.
The joy of seeing new, undiscovered cutscenes pop up ^^
I didn't win all the Treasure contests, so now I'm missing Harry's ending and the Sage Hermitage ending :(
Wish I can bake that 3-tiered strawberry cake they have at the Girls' Gathering.
At the Linca ending, while they're in a blazing hot dessert, Linca was like, "Marion, permission to cut my hair." When her request was declined, she came up with, "Then, permission to take off clothes!" LOL, Linca!
I'm assuming the 8 Lincas are...clones?
Guess I'll have to replay the whole thing to get the last two endings and the remaining Trophies =w=llllllllllll
Battling with Sham Linca!
Sisters Thereafter
At Paradise
Linca ending XD
Working Madam ending, for completing all the villagers' requests.
Girls' Gathering ending :D
Regina's Last Labour :')
Yes! We did! Now get that instrument from him already!
Yggdrasil, the flower bush monster, made by advanced alchemy
The Old Oath Dragon
Wilbell defending Ayesha from the Wind Ruler's wrath
Ayesha got drunk O.O
Fred the Baker giving everyone free bread :D
Well, Ayesha? Do you? *wink wink* Anyways, this is the Regina Ending
Linca, Juris and Ayesha defeated the dragon
Keithgriff showing Ayesha the Mecha-Dragon
I decided not to idle around gathering and exploring unless I have to.
I finally got the Eclipse flower petals. Be sure to stay in Hornheim or the Cliffside Path in Year 2 11/11 for the solar eclipse to get the petals.
I got to attend the funeral for a Homunculus. It's not really a farewell, but rather a farewell AND a welcome event. The Homuculi die for days, revive, then live for years. Damn they're cute ^^ And you even get to pick their flowers after the event.
I now know what the whetstones are for =w=llll upgrading weapons, how dumb of me! Now I'm able to reveal their weapons' true potential and properties.
I dumbly waited around for Ayesha's Birthday event on Year 2, but it's suppose to be held in Year 3 1/21 =w=lllllll Wasted my time, sort of.
I missed out Ernie's bear plushie, but at least I got the cloth from Nanaca to showcase in the Treasure Trove contest. Too bad I lost to Harry on the 2nd contest, really hurt my chances in winning all six.
I still wasn't able to defeat Keithgriff in Hallos Village :(
Soul Trap Chains are awesome HP-absorbing friendship bracelets =w=b
I know I said to focus more on the important tasks in saving Nio, but I couldn't resist helping the villagers. I need the Memory points and Cole (money) badly ><
I defeated the Mecha-Dragon and got a Trophy for it :D Not to mention a new alchemy book!
Odelia the automaton ate too much sweets and ended up having a toothache.
Keithgriff became Odelia's new master. And finally the truth about the Two Cradles was revealed. Odelia was the Cradle of Knowledge, whereas the flower bush monster Yggdrasil was the Cradle of Life.
I defeated Yggdrasil and got Nio back :D I got her a Mixer from the Homunculus Town.
During my second encounter with Yggdrasil, I almost cried again :'( That song is just too emotional.
I'd split my saved data into a few files so that I can achieve multiple endings, and I did! Sadly not all :(
I helped Juris defeat the Old Oath Dragon :D At one point I did manage to tag Linca along, but there wasn't enought time to travel back to Vierzeberg to complete Linca's task :( Sorry, Linca ><
Juris gave Ayesha a Dragon Amulet after the battle. He said he "put his feelings for her into this amulet"!!!! Propose already, Juris!!!
I also helped Regina fix the bridge in the Tunnel before she went back to her hometown. This triggered another alternative ending :D
Finally Wilbell's ending was revealed, too, after helping her make a contract with the Wind Ruler, who looked like the Fire Lord in Atelier Escha & Logy, but in a different colour.
Ayesha got drunk on her birthday and Ernie took care of her. This woman has so many potential suitors~ Ernie, Juris, Kyle, ah~ <3
After helping your friends, if you head back to Vierzeberg in time, you'll get a belated birthday present from the friends you'd aided delivered to your doorstep by Marietta. I got a Floral Staff from Wilbell and a pair of Fur Gloves from Regina.
There's another ending where you'll get the Search for the Truth Trophy. If you have learned the truth about the Two Cradles and have defeated Yggdrasil, to get this ending, you'll have to choose "I forgot something important" in the dialog with Nio at the workshop when your time's up in the game. This prompts Ayesha and Nio to travel with Keithgriff and Odelia to seek out any information about the Two Cradles.
Now everyone has the Soul Trap Chains and Mysterious Talismans equipped XD
I found out what's the ingredient for Harry's Flower Muffins: Dunkelheit! After adding that ingredient, the Comfort property appears and that's essential for the muffins to turn out perfectly.
I was finally able to save Ayesha's little sister, Nio!
Keithgriff joined my party and made battles way easier to win.
My favourite party members are Keithgriff and Wilbell.
Always focus on the more important tasks. On my first attempt, I was so busy trying to complete the villagers' requests that I lost track of time and ended up delaying some of them because some of the items are only available in other areas which I have not explored yet, or that I don't have the recipe to synthesize them. Their first requests always have no time limit, but after that, the clock starts ticking, and there's no going back. Once a request has been delayed, you can no longer carry out any of their other requests and that means less rewards to earn.
Nio was saved, but I still have other monsters to hunt down, and when Year 4 came, I was faced with another ending, albeit better than the previous one where I didn't get to save Nio at all. Still, I wish the game can give the player more time so that we can explore the world more freely and not get tied down by the calendar.
I guess the ending came fast because I was so busy trying to synthesize the perfect Flower Muffin for Harry but failed :/
The game basically has wolves, squirrels, bears, elemental spirits, dragons and slags as monsters. Their level differs along with their colours. They're later reused in Atelier Escha & Logy.
Juris looks intimidating and large at first, but him in a suit changes my impression of him <3
Weird Talismans and One Drop Recovery Pills are my saviors
So far I haven't been able to defeat a dragon properly, and I don't mean those Fairydrakes.
The one imprisoning Nio is none other than Yggdrasil, a humongous flower bush monster made by alchemy to preserve life. Funny, I was able to defeat him, and he has 5000 HP, but for the other boss fights that has only 2000 HP I was defeated mercilessly. I guess it's because Yggdrasil has less chances in attacking my party with full force and goes solo while the rest have their homies for backup and eat up my HP in big bites.
I should really learn how to manage my time in this game.
I got used to the English dub somewhat. I guess it's not bad. When I listened to the original Japanese dub, it suddenly became foreign to me.
Yep, I prefer Pana's 'Oink moooo!' in the English dub.
I almost cried when battling against Yggdrasil, not because he's tough until I peed my pants or anything, but because they used the soundtrack which frequently appears whenever it concerns Ayesha being sad and determined about Nio's disappearance, and they make the music more epic. The song is called Maria. So yeah, emotional moment :'(
I love their OST. And their art. Seriously.
Whenever I go to the bazaar downtown, I keep humming one of their soundtracks =w=lllllll
The Mellow Animal which Ernie gave to me is a cute bear plushie and can win in any of the Thrilling Treasure Trove contests hands-down. Take that, Harry Olsen! XD
I should really get Nio a more powerful weapon. I mean, she only has a soup ladle, and seems to get Pana the cow involved in battles.
Bombs? Check. Healing items? Check. Accessories for support? Checkeroo~ I was about to leave my workshop when I heard a familiar cry. "Sis!" Nio? I turned around and sure enough, my little sister came running towards me, thankfully in one piece. "Nio!" Oh my! After four years of searching and Synthesising, my lost little sister was finally home! How did she escape unscathed? It was only then I noticed a tall, rugged-looking man walking with Nio. "Mr. Keith?" Is he the one who found my sister? Wait, after all that hard work, shouldn't I be the one finding my sister? Mr. Keith then explained how he found Nio in some ruins by accident and brought her back home to me. Nio cried about how dark and scary it was in there, and it was because of Keithgriff's voice was she able to come back to her senses and walked out. I thought I couldn't find my little sister again, but he told me that actually, given the chance, I could. It's just that I lacked...something. Of course, not my talent for alchemy, but...something. Yeah. Time management :P Confused? OK, OK, I'll restart. I was playing Atelier Ayesha again today, and the game was about an apothecary called Ayesha Altugle, who has a talent for alchemy and has lost her little sister Nio for three years in some ruins near her family's herb garden. After encountering her little sister's avatar by the grave that marked Nio's disappearance, a mysterious and yet powerful man (I once battled him and it did not go well TT TT) named Keithgriff then gave me, er, I mean Ayesha, a head start in her journey to find her sister. Mr. Keith doesn't exactly give all the answers to Ayesha, because Ayesha has a brain, so why not put it to use? He does at least give her some clues to figure out. What makes these Atelier games so special is that they require you to manage your time well, because these games are just filled with places to explore, assignments to complete, events to attend,and people to meet and improve your relationships on. Like most assignments, they have deadlines QmQ I got the hang of managing my time in Atelier Escha & Logy, because they're government officials and the tasks are mostly straightforward and easy to complete if you know your stuff. It also helps that when I lost in my first attempt of the game, I'm still able to carry my items and money over to a new route in the game. That makes defeating the low-level monsters and leveling up much easier. It also enables me to cover my shopping expenses. Goodness knows how many Meat Buns and Baguettes and Danishes I have bought. They're just too cute to resist! I mean, they're food! And they provide healing, too. Atelier Ayesha is a little different. Atelier Ayesha and Atelier Escha & Logy are like the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the Elder Scrolls VL Skyrim, because both Atelier Ayesha and Oblivion have more variety of items and quests and places, whereas Atelier Escha& Logy and Skyrim are more like simplified versions, but at least their combat system improved immensely. For those of you who wants to try out the Atelier series, I recommend playing Atelier Escha & Logy first, because they have less and simplified stuff, so you'll be able to manage your time well and complete most of the tasks before the deadline. Plus you can even make your own armour and weapons, unlike in Atelier Ayesha, where you have to buy them or pick them up after defeating monsters. The combat is so much more fun and colourful, too, with the multicoloured flashes and and sparkles~ Also, you can have 6 members in your team. Atelier Ayesha only limits you to three. While Atelier Ayesha as like 50% English dub and no Japanese dub, Atelier Escha & Logy has the choice of both! :D I'm not saying that I don't like Atelier Ayesha though, I do. I enjoy the game as much as its sequel, maybe even more, because there're more places to explore, it's just that I find its sequel better as a starting point. Oooo, I can't wait for Atelier Shallie!!! ((again??? If there was anything that both games have which I can enjoy on both sides, with no setbacks, that would be the game art and their original soundtracks. I just fall straight in love. They're all so brilliant! The music, the cutscenes, everything! Each character is so unique in his/her own ways. Linca is a strong swordswoman, but is rather awkward when it comes to normal socialising and is terrible at cooking. Harry Olsen is a rich eccentric treasure collector who seems to have his own theories on the past civilization which makes no sense (I mean, seriously, a golden staff as a giant toothpick?). Ayesha is lovely and kind but can be rather naive. There's still many characters I'd like to list, but that'd take forever! It was such a surprising bad ending in Atelier Ayesha. They didn't specify how I have to find Nio in 4 years time or something, not like its sequel, where your assignments are categorised into terms and your time was displayed in a countdown as well, like how many days you have left in a term. Like, Goddangit, I still have to find 2 other flowers. I don't even know how much of the storyline I have left to play in order to get a good ending and find Nio. BY MYSELF. THANKS A LOT, KEITHGRIFF >:P Oh, well, I shall move on to a new game. At least I know what to do now. Maybe I should try baking those cute buns they have in Fred's Bakery in Atelier Ayesha...
Macarons. One of the French recipes that I find tough to master. Only through trial and error was I able to bake up a decent batch. I remember the first time I tried making them, without any tips and tricks from the experts, and they ended up a tray of super sweet almond cookies. They didn't even LOOK like macarons, because a) they're too brown and b) no 'feet'! :'( The 'feet' is most crucial part of a macaron. It's what makes it a macaron, instead of a common meringue. They're basically the ridges that formed along the edge of a macaron.
So a year or two ago, my aunt invited me to this baking class and finally, FINALLY, I get to learn how to bake up those meringue sandwiches properly! I learnt tips like leaving your egg whites in the fridge for 3 days before use, making sure the icing sugar you use has 2% cornstarch in it, and not over-stirring your batter. They should be...lava-like. If you cut a line in the batter and the line closes up in 30 seconds, it's good to go. Under-stirring your batter and you'll end up with cracked and lumpy macarons. Over-stirring them and they'll spread easily because by then the batter becomes too thin. In the middle of baking those macarons, you'll have to turn your pans in the oven to have even baking, but I'm too lazy to do that every time I bake them, so I skipped the step :P Also, while crushing your almonds in a food processor, when it's in a fine powder form, it's done, no more whirring, otherwise the oil will be extracted from the almonds and we'll end up with almond butter instead :/
My first ever successful batch of macarons <3 pink, perky and feet-on!
At one point I lost the recipe given by teacher so I had to research the recipe :/ That's how I came across Entertainment with Beth for the first time :D
I like her recipes. Plus, she's great at explaining the steps, making everything else a lot easier to understand and less intimidating to try out. She did mention not to underbake the macarons, but 20 minutes for my oven is just too long. I had added food coloring to my batch to make them pink like hers, but 20 minutes later the color faded to brown :( so yeah, 15 minutes it is.
I filled these with Nutella filling :D I tried peanut butter, but chocolate is always the best <3 I also find that eating the meringue cookies alone and without the filling is a bit too sweet to taste, due to the high amount of sugar they contain, but when you fill them, the filling just takes away most of the sweetness and gives them its flavour instead.
A month later, I happen to have a bag of black sesame seeds. And leftover icing sugar. Googling, I found out that ground almonds are not the only ingredient for macarons. Lo and behold, a batch of black sesame macarons were born...and eaten :P
I regret not taking a picture of the piped macarons before they hit the oven. With the ground black sesame seeds dotting the white batter, they really look like smooth pebbles. Beth was right about not under-baking these babies, because they will stick to the parchment paper and risk detaching their 'feet'.
One thing I hate when preparing the macaron batter is sifting the ground nuts, be it almonds or sesame seeds, because you may end up with more chunks than powder and that takes up more time to sift them, and you may have to grind them up again == Really took up my time.
I had a jar of black sesame spread handy for the filling. The spread just enhances that black sesame flavour. Really was the best macarons I had baked up so far. I'm really lazy to make them again though, haha. I don't wanna think about the sifting *shudder*
I do think black sesame seeds are way better than almonds, because they're less chunky than almonds. Plus they make the macarons look extra special :D
So here's the recipe, which I've modified a teeny bit from Beth. Enjoy baking!
Black Sesame Macarons
Makes 24 sandwiched macarons
3 egg whites (after storing them in the fridge for 1-3 days, before using them, remember to bring them to room temperature)
50g white sugar
200g confectioner's sugar
120g ground black sesame seeds
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream tartar (you can omit this, but it'll take the egg whites a longer time to reach the stiff peaks form)
A drop of food colouring (optional)
Method:
While waiting for your egg whites to come to room temperature, ground up your black sesame seeds in a food processor and sift them along with the powdered sugar in a bowl. Once you're done, set that bowl aside.
Next, in a clean bowl, with a clean whisk (or a clean electric mixer, we don't want any grease in our batter), beat the egg whites until they are foamy, then add salt, cream of tartar and white sugar and whisk them for 8-10 minutes until you get stiff peaks that stand upright. One trick to finding out if your egg whites have stiff peaks is to tip your bowl upside down. If nothing drops off, you're good to go.
If you want, at this point, you can add your food colouring. I learned the hard way when I added food coloring AFTER I folded in the ground almonds and icing sugar. Well, DON'T, because if your batter is lava-like already and you continue to stir it with the addition of food colouring, over-stirring occurs and the batter will spread easily :( So do it before adding in the ground black sesame seeds and confectioner's sugar!
Fold the sifted ground black sesame seeds and confectioner's sugar into the egg mixture at about 67-75 turns of your spatula. Once your batter is lava-like, transfer it to a pastry bag.
Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a piece of parchment paper over your baking tray. Tap the pan hard 2-3 times to let the air bubbles out. Let them sit for 2-30 minutes or an hour.
Preheat your oven at 150*C and bake your macarons for 15-20 minutes. Remember, do not under bake! Once your macarons are cooled, spread one with black sesame seed spread and sandwich it with the other! Then serve~
Baking and gaming. Both hobbies I utterly love :3 After giving much thought, as the afternoon rain pitter-patters outside, I have decided to make a new blog and share my love for them. The blog name was inspired as I was playing Atelier Ayesha, LOL. I eat food, I read about food, I write about food; it's no wonder I feel like an elephant QwQ No matter~ The first time I picked up Atelier Escha & Logy from the store shelves, it's like I've hit the jackpot $w$ Finally, a game I can indulge myself with! My first ever JRPG! ^^ Sooner or later I should really touch base with Final Fantasy or something QwQ
The game shows Escha Malier, a 15-year-old alchemist joining the local administration, along with 18-year-old Logix Fiscario from Central City, in a small town called Colseit. It's quite heart-warming when playing Escha's route, but Logy's route shows a little dark and emotional side, too. I wasn't able to defeat Gullveig :'( so I didn't get to battle with Flameu and find out the ultimate truth of the Unexplored Ruins and Flameu's sad past. It was only after watching the anime adaptation of the game and get a forbidden taste of spoilers from some wikis that I was able to fully grasp the whole story. It's just tear-jerking >< Sadness aside, Colseit is a town brimming with apples, so from Escha's cauldron, out pops an Apple Tart! If only baking was as easy and hassle-free as Synthesising ><
I'd never made pies and tarts before, so playing this game made my heart itch. I had told myself that during the holidays I shall bake less as constant purchasing of ingredients can be quite expensive. But no, as a lover of apple pastries, this was one experiment I couldn't dismiss. Apple and cinnamon and butter pastry <3 I'm sensing a French theme in these baked goods in the Atelier series, as there's an Apple tart in Atelier Escha & Logy and a Baguette in Atelier Ayesha. No surprise, since atelier is a French word.It makes me wonder how the previous Atelier games are like. Struck with inspiration, I looked up some apple tart recipes from Youtube. No sooner had I found the perfect one from the channel Entertaining with Beth ^^ The tart was composed of three layers: a tart shell, an apple compote and slices of apples on top. I like looking up recipes during my spare time, haha XD Already my W.I.T.C.H. file is bursting with printed and handwritten recipes, some of which I haven't tried out yet :P
I didn't have a food processor like her, so I made the tart shell by hand. What I ended up with was a rather sticky dough >< I don't know, maybe I should just exclude the water and egg yolk mixture, because when I poured some onto the dough, it became even stickier >< I ended up only pouring half of the mixture and added more flour to make it less sticky.
It was a sticky setback, but at least the end result was still delicious ^^ My friend came over for a visit and helped with arranging the apple slices on the tart to make the whole thing look like a rose.
After following the recipe, the tart turned out beautifully~
The edges of the apple slices may have burned a little from the high heat, but the the tart looked more like a wisp white rose which had undergone some tragic incident and had a mournful back story or something. It's beautifully sad~ :') or is it sadly beautiful? o.O
Unfortunately, while taking out the tart from the oven, I didn't think the removable tart pan can be removed that easily @@ The burning outer ring of the pan slipped and hung itself on my forearm, making stripes of burnt skin as I quickly place the baked tart on the table and consequently shake the ring out into the kitchen sink.
My wound is healing now, so no worries, at least they're not melon-sized boils or anything O.O Any time now the scabs will come off and smooth new skin will be regenerated~ A brush of apricot jam on the apple petals of the tart and it's done! :D My tribute to Atelier Escha & Logy <3
It's lovely, tart, buttery and sweet <3 the apple slices were tossed with some lemon juice, which gave them a tangy flavour. I really recommend giving this recipe a try, even if you're not an Atelier fan. Just be careful with the hot tart pan!
CLASSIC FRENCH APPLE TART
Serves 8
For Crust:
1 ¼ cups flour (150 g)
1 tbsp sugar (12 g)
¼ tsp salt (1.5 g)
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed (120 g)
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp ice water (30 ml)
For the compote:
3 gala apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
2 tbsp sugar (25 g)
¼ cup of apple juice (60 ml)
¼ cup of water (60 ml)
1/8 tsp of cinnamon (2 g)
zest of 1 lemon
For the topping:
2 gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/8 " thin
½ tsp of sugar (2 g)
2 tbsp apricot jam, heated until liquefied (30 ml)
juice of ½ a lemon
Method:
In a bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and sugar
and pulse until combined. And butter cubes a few at a
time, pulsing quickly until dough resembles a coarse meal.
Beat egg together with water. Add egg mixture, slowly,
pulsing just until dough comes together. Turn out onto a
floured surface and roll into a ball and then pat down into
a disk. Wrap disk in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes
(or pop in the freezer for 10).
Meanwhile, place apple chunks, juice, water cinnamon and
zest in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Cover and bring to a
boil and let cook for 10 mins.
Simmer uncovered until most of the liquid is evaporated.
Mash apples into a paste with a fork. Allow to cool
completely, it will thicken as it cools.
Roll out dough onto a floured surface and fit into a 9" tart
pan. Spread a single layer of compote on the bottom, and
place in freezer while you prep your apples.
Peel, core and slice apples very thin, about 1/8 " thick.
Place in bowl and squeeze with lemon juice to prevent
browning.
Remove tart from the freezer. When placing the apples the
idea is to create an escargot pattern. Starting from the
outside and working your way into the center. Layer each
apple, cut side down, one slightly overlapping the other,
making your way all around the tart until you reach the
center.
Bake at 400F (200 c) for 15 minutes and then reduce heat
to 350F (175 c) and bake for 20 more minutes, or until
golden brown. Then place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes
just until the apples begin to get lightly charred.
Place the jam in the microwave and heat on high for 15 secs
or until melted. Brush tart with jam to create a nice shine.
Et voila!
Serve with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of homemade
