Appeltjes onder de deken

Sometimes recipes are hard to resist: either they have adorable names, or they are made with delectable ingredients. This week's recipe combines both: the name of the dish is Appeltjes onder de deken, meaning "little apples under the blanket", and the dessert dish has both apples and a thick, creamy, vanilla sauce, a winning combination. How can you say no!?

These "tucked in apples" as this recipe is aptly called, make use of a staple in the Dutch household: apples. It's a perfect dessert to get in the oven as you dish up the evening meal: by the time you are done and the plates are cleared, your apples will be baked and ready to be served. They are wonderful eaten warm, but will do just well at room temperature.

Apples are not foreign to the Dutch kitchen. We love our apple pie, apple turnovers, apple beignets and appelbollen! It should therefore not be surprising that yearly, over 300 million kilos of apples are harvested in the Netherlands. Of all those apples, a whopping half were of the Elstar variety alone. It is easily the most popular apple among the Dutch.

The Elstar apple was developed in the city of Elst, in the province of Gelderland, by a man called Arie Schaap. The Elstar combines the name of the city and the two first letters of Arie's name, in his honor. Since the apple's introduction in the seventies, it has quickly become a Dutch favorite and continues to be so to this day. The Elstar is a red and green apple, with creamy white flesh and a sweet and slightly tart taste, and is a cross between the Golden Delicious and the Ingrid Marie apple.

Other traditional Dutch varieties, which are becoming more and more difficult to find, are Notarisappel, Groninger Kroon, Sterappel, Dubbele Zoete Aagt, Eijsdener Klumpke and the more accessible Boskoop apple, also know as Goudreinet. This last one was developed in  1853 in Boskoop (South-Holland) by fruitgrower P.A. Ottolander. 

Elstar apples are hard to come by here in the United States, so I've used little Gala apples instead. The Elstar has a sweeter taste but the Gala will do for tucking in, so to say. If you have space in your garden, you may consider planting an Elstar tree or any of these other old fashioned Dutch varieties! It takes a bit of looking but they can be found at nurseries.

For this recipe, you traditionally do not peel the apples. I used a packaged vanilla pudding for the sauce, but you are welcome to use your favorite custard recipe, or vanilla vla, or make your own.

Appeltjes onder de deken
1/2 cup mixed dried fruits*
1/2 cup (125 ml) apple juice
2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
4 small size Gala apples
2 packages vanilla pudding (cook and serve, 4.6oz/130gr each)
6 cups (1.5 liter) milk

Mix the dried fruits with the apple juice, brandy, brown sugar and the cinnamon stick and let it soak overnight if possible, but at least a few hours. 

The next day, heat the oven to 375F (190C) while you prepare the hot sauce. Wash the apples and cut in half, top to bottom. Remove the core (I use a teaspoon sized measuring spoon for a nice, even round). Pour half of the sauce on the bottom of a large baking tray - the tray has to hold 8 apple halves- and keep the rest warm and covered!**

Place the apples, cut side up, on top of the vanilla. Stir the dried fruit and put a heaping tablespoon in each apple hollow. Continue until the fruits have been distributed evenly.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve the apples hot at the table, and pour the rest of the hot sauce over the apples right before you serve, tucking them in under a nice, warm blanket.....

Eet smakelijk!

* Use what you have: mix up dark raisins, golden raisins, currants, cranberries, chopped up walnuts, almonds or pecan.

** It's a little bit more work, but I prefer making the second batch of vanilla pudding when the apples are baking - right before they come out of the oven. That way, I have piping hot custard to pour over the apples! 

Pruimenvlaai

"Aan een boom zo volgeladen mist men vijf, zes pruimen niet" wrote Hieronymus van Alphen, the known Dutch poet, pointing out that "on a tree so richly filled five, six plums will not be missed". That must be what the squirrels are thinking as, each day upon return from work, I find half-eaten, half-buried plums in my gardens. The tree, however, does not seem less laden for it.

As cute as the little rascals might be, and as willing I am to share the wealth, it is time to put the ripe fruit to good use. Plum jam is always an option, but I am rather partial to vlaaien, the Limburg version of tarts or pies. And seeing as how this afternoon I am expecting company for coffee, a plumb tart or pruimenvlaai seems to be just the ticket!

Limburg vlaaien use a rich yeast dough for the base of their tarts and pies instead of a flaky crust. It is reminiscent of the fact that these particular pies originated from the leftovers of bread dough at the bakery, and at home. The last remaining pieces of dough would be rolled out, flattened and covered with jam, pieces of fruit or sometimes even just a sprinkle of sugar.

The province of Limburg has a large variety of vlaaien, from sweet and tangy (apricot) to rich and creamy (rice), and just about everything in between. The traditional black plum tart, zwarte pruimen vlaai, is made with dried Italian plums, or prunes, and was made during wintertime when fresh fruit was not available. But since this is (late) summer, and plums are abundantly available, we'll make a fresh plum vlaai instead.

As for Dutch plums, there aren't many, which might explain why there is a distinct lack of plum recipes in the many Dutch cookbooks from the last century. Some varieties are Vroege Tolse, Eldense Blauwe, Reine Claude van Schouwen, and the Dubbele Boerenwitte that was mentioned as early as 1790 in J.H.Knoop's "Pomologie of Kennisse der Vruchten" publication. If you have space for a fruit tree, it might be fun to plant one of these Dutch varieties!

Pruimenvlaai

1/3 cup milk and 2 Tbsp (100 ml), lukewarm

1 1/2 teaspoons (5 grams) active dry yeast

1 3/4 cup (250 gr) all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons (30 grams) sugar

1/2 teaspoon (4 grams) salt

1 egg

1/2 stick butter (55 gr), soft at room temperature

For the filling:
1 package vanilla pudding, prepared with half the amount of liquid
About 15 ripe plums, washed, pitted, and quartered.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk, and let it proof while you measure out the rest of the ingredients. Add the flour to a mixing bowl, sprinkle the sugar on top and give it a stir. Now pour the milk with the yeast on top and start mixing. As the dough comes together, add in the egg and a bit later the salt. Add the soft butter and let the whole mixture come together while you need it into a soft dough. (You may need to add a tablespoon or two of milk in case the dough turns out to be a bit dry).

Form the dough into a ball, put it in a bowl, cover and let it rise.

In the meantime, make the filling. You could use a package of vanilla pudding to make it easy on yourself but if you have the time, try making this pastry cream - half the recipe will do.

Grease a large pie pan (11 inches/28cm), or vlaaivorm, and roll out the dough into a large circle. Transfer it to the pan, and cut off any excess dough you may have. Poke holes in the dough so that it doesn't seize up while baking. Pour the vanilla pudding or pastry cream on top, then arrange the quartered plums. Bake at 400F/200C for 25 minutes - sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the plums and bake for another five minutes. When you take the vlaai out of the oven, sprinkle another tablespoon of sugar over the fruit and let it cool.

It's great served by itself, with a big dollop of whipped cream or, the American way, with a scoop of ice cream!

Happy King's Day everyone!

What better cake to celebrate with - a traditional Dutch slagroomtaart!!