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Hi all :) I am in the process of making this : Apple, custard and honey tart [James Martin] recipe | Eat Your Books

I am ending up with the following puzzle 

The recipe calls for :

- 4 Cox apples (for purée-ing)

- 1 Bramley (for covering up the filling)

- 1 "small red eating apple", Ballard Bromley if available (for the topping)

And I have :

- 2 Juliet apples

- 2 Granny Smith

- 3 Jazz apples

I know Granny is more acidic, and I am not sure how to mix them all? I was thinking, mixing 3+1 Jazz and Granny for the purée, 1 Juliet for each of the filling and topping, in order to not have too much acidic taste or at least to blend it out? But not sure. Acidic taste might be nice and fresh though, not sure.

Just starting to experiment with apples, I don't have much experience or knowledge in them :) I previously just bought apples without caring too much :)

Cheers and happy holidays to all 

Agnès

Juliet apples .. just a pink/red skinned variant developed in France .. described as a good all round eating apple

Jazz apples - New Zealand eating apple ... described as a crisp hard apple with an excellent strong sweet-sharp flavor, and a pronounced fruity pear-drop note.

Cox apple - UK dessert apple ...

I think I'd use the Jazz & Granny for the puree, and the granny for the topping, and the Juliet for finishing..

but whatever you do I am sure it will be delightful!

Just a comment about Granny Smith apples....in addition to being prized for their lovely tart (yes - from the acid) flavour (and a great balancer of other heavily sweet components in your recipe) they are also heavily favoured for baked fillings (think apple pies & apple crisp) because they hold their shape beautifully. I would NOT choose to puree these guys but would use them in which ever place the apples were left as slices/wedges.    

I looked up Bramley apples and read that they are also used for baking because their ratio of acid to sugar leans heavier on the acid (again tart flavour) AND that they have a lovely texture when baked.  I assume that where you say "covering up the filling", that means in slices or wedges?  If so, that is certainly where I would use one of the Granny Smiths. 

Please let us know what you decide and how it turns out - it sounds like a beautiful dessert.

Originally Posted by: averythingcooks

Just a comment about Granny Smith apples....in addition to being prized for their lovely tart (yes - from the acid) flavour (and a great balancer of other heavily sweet components in your recipe) they are also heavily favoured for baked fillings (think apple pies & apple crisp) because they hold their shape beautifully. I would NOT choose to puree these guys but would use them in which ever place the apples were left as slices/wedges.    

I looked up Bramley apples and read that they are also used for baking because their ratio of acid to sugar leans heavier on the acid (again tart flavour) AND that they have a lovely texture when baked.  I assume that where you say "covering up the filling", that means in slices or wedges?  If so, that is certainly where I would use one of the Granny Smiths. 

Please let us know what you decide and how it turns out - it sounds like a beautiful dessert.

Hello averythingcooks and debkellie

Thank you so much for your input! Yes when I say "covering up the filling", I mean in slices/wedges. Apparently the filling is in two parts, purée and slices/wedges, and then topping/finish. Based on your feedback I am definitely going to use the Granny for the slices/wedges part of the topping, but I will let you know where and how it all ends up :) 

Sorry for the delay, I failed this recipe several times, 1/ because I broke the pastry case after precooking it and 2/ because on the second attempt my sister burnt the pastry case while precooking it :) :) :) We still made it though and ate it, but well...

Anyway, the author I think messed up with the apple types instructions, because he says to purée the Bramley and layup the 4 Cox apples, but this is way too many apples for layering + later in the recipe mentions layering Golden Noble 8-/

So the first time around I used Jazz and then had the idea of alternating Granny and Juliet for the apples on top without peeling them to have a green/red effect, but on top of a burnt pastry the taste was a bit lost. 

On the second attempt, I had run out of apples to alternate, so I ended up actually using Golden for purée-ing, Granny for layering, and Jazz for the "toping" which is actually a caramelized sauce type thing.

This worked really well! Everybody loved the cake that way :) I will keep in mind all of your advice to continue experimenting with different types of apples :)

Great to see such determination/persistence to get a good outcome! Well done. Thanks for the update and "Happy New Year!".

Just off notes: Juliet apples, from France, are all grown organically. The Cox apple is a popular but not readily available apple - it does not travel as well as some. The Jazz is a cross between a Braeburn (an apple I love even if it is not sexy to look at) and a Royal Gala - thus the start and sweet combo. While a NZ apple originally, they are now grown in Washington state thus available year round. The brambly is a terrific cooking apple, but I rarely see it in Canada (where I live).

The seasonality of apples comes in play - right now it is the toughest time to buy apples (Jan/Feb) as you are looking at cold storage apples - so there isn't anything super fresh. Perfect for  baking!

As you know, USA and Canada harvest their apples in Sept/Oct - some varieties come on a little earlier and a few as late as November); Southern Hemisphere apples will start appearing but not for many weeks yet - first Chile and then New Zealand / South Africa for the summer months and then back to USA/Canada come Oct/Nov.

That recipe sounds like a lot of work - good on you for making it work. I think I would have reached over a grabbed a Donna Hay or such!