Pouding Alsacien

Julia Child and Simone and Louisette included this recipe in their "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I feel like they are my dear friends! If you're daunted by the heft of the book, put your fears aside. The book is heavy but full of simple, lovely country recipes that stood the test of time through that weird jello/patio luau era of food in the 1960s. This recipe is the "little black dress," pearls, wingback chair...timeless, and comforting in elegance and familiarity.

This is the most beautiful cold weather dessert I know. I think of all those fictional heroines walking off their heartbreak on windy, icy moors! The stories always end those treks with the damp girls warming, cuddled in upholstered furniture beside a roaring fire that is the only light in the room! They eat steamy food and heavy bread with butter! This is THE dessert for such meals. It goes well with the dark heavy food of fall and winter, but is light and memorable. This is the dessert Jane Eyre would eat!

Pouding Alsacien
"Mastering the Art of French Cooking"

"This simple apple dessert is always better if prepared the day before it is eaten, as a good 24 hours are needed for a slow blending of flavors." Serves 6 to 8 people.

2 1/2 lbs firm cooking apples
Quarter, core, and peel the apples.
Cut into 1/4 inch lengthwise slices
(should have about 7 cups)

4-5 TB butter
10-12 inch skillet

saute apples, one layer at a time, in
hot butter till lightly browned and tender. As they are done, remove to lightly buttered 9-inch diameter, 2-inch deep baking dish.

3/4 cup plum jam
2 TB rum

Melt jam in the skillet with rum. Gently fold with the apples and smooth back into the baking dish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

4 TB butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks (keep the whites)
1 TB flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
(whir wheat bread in a food processor)

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg yolks, flour, cinnamon, and finally, the bread crumbs.

The 3 reserved egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 TB sugar

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; sprinkle the sugar and salt in, and beat until stiff. Fold the whites into the crumb mixture and spread evenly over the apples.

Bake for 20 minutes; remove from oven and sprinkle with a thick layer of powdered sugar. Bake for 20 minutes more.

Cool, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
*Delicious at room temperature too.