Get Ready for Apple and Caramel Bliss

I’ve done lots of desserts as a pastry chef: cakes, pies, tarts, doughnuts, you name it!  One pastry I realized that I haven’t done in a long time is a cookie.  Its not that I cant make a good cookie, its just they seem…. So….. Simple!  But there is nothing wrong with simple, right?

Well today’s cookie is inspired from helping another pastry chef that is getting ready of a culinary competition.  Her category requires her to present a gourmet cookie in 1hr 30min along with a centerpiece.

I recommended that she makes a cookie using Sable Breton Dough

Sable Breton is a very rich French butter-short dough that consist of lots of butter, sugar, eggs, flour, a leaven and flavorings

This cookie is moist and has a light and airy texture!

Combine that with caramelized apples, caramel crème and white chocolate and you just might end up in Heaven….

Uh Umm!  Heaven meaning loving the cookie…. Not… Dead… Ummm… Yea… But, anyway you get my point.

Make these cookies on a special occasion or hell, make them just because you want to.  Either way, if made correctly, I can guarantee that you will love this perfect combination…

But don’t take my word for it…  Find out for yourself!

Let’s dive into the recipe!

Sable Breton
210g Butter
210g Sugar
Zest of one lemon
105g Yolks
300g Cake Flour
18g Baking Powder
1g Salt

• In a mixer with the paddle attachment combine sugar, zest and yolks and mix until pale/fluffy.
• Add very soft butter – mix until fully creamed.
• Combine dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
• Wrap and flatten to a disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight
• Reserve for baking

Salted Caramel Cream
100g sugar
44g butter
232g or 1 Cup cream
pinch salt

• Cook sugar over low heat to caramel
• In a separate sauce pot, heat the butter, cream, and salt melting the butter
• Add to caramel and whisk Vigoursly
• Cool over Ice Bath
• Reserve in the refrigerator for assembly

Caramelized Brown Butter Apples
Granny Smith Apples       as desired
Butter    as desired
Sugar     as desired
Salt        pinch

Note:  There are no real measurements to making these apples.  Cook them to your liking of taste.  However, achieving that sticky caramelized, buttery goodness does take a little patience.  Just follow the steps below!

• Dice the apples to small cubes
• Melt the some butter in a saute pan and add the apples
• Add enough sugar to completely coat the apples and then add the pinch of salt
• The sugar and salt will draw out the water moisture from the apples
• Once the apples are dry, add more butter and sugar and cook, stirring, until the apples are nice and dark golden brown and sticky; as well as the butter being browned and giving off a nutty aroma.
• The apples should be shiny and sticky because or the sugar and pectin that the apples release during the cooking process.
• Let cool and reserve to the side for assembly

Tempered White Chocolate Discs
Couverture White Chocolate

Note:  You can find good white chocolate in a specialty grocery store like Whole Foods.  To make sure the chocolate you choose is good for tempering, look at the cacao % or what I like to do, feel how hard it is… Does it have a snap if your break it.  Couverture chocolate comes already tempered; however, we want to form different shapes with it, we have to take it out of its temper and bring it back to its tempered state.  You do this by emulsifying, bonding the beta crystals back together in the chocolate.

• A good rule of thumb to tempering white chocolate is to:

  • Boil water in a pot
  • Chop the chocolate into small fine pieces and place them in a bowl that can fit the pot
  • Turn the stove off with the boiling water and place the bowl of chocolate on top
  • melt it completely stirring occasionally
  • Remove the bowl from the pot of water after it is completely melted. Wipe the water from condensation off the bottom of the bowl.  This is important because you don’t want water to get on your hands and into the chocolate.  Getting water into the chocolate will cause it to seize and/or not temper correctly
  • In a cool room, vigorously mix the chocolate with a rubber spatula to emulsify the mixture to bring the Beta crystals back together. This will take some elbow grease!
  • When the mixture is cooled to 80F, and the chocolate starts to look thick, put the bowl back over the pot of hot/warm water and heat while stirring to 86 – 88F
  • Test the chocolate by dipping a spoon or piece of parchment in it and placing that on a clean cool surface
  • You want the chocolate to set or almost set in 2-3 min
  • If it doesn’t then its not tempered correctly
  • If it dries too fast, you may need to heat it a bit more.

• To make the white chocolate disc:

• Pour some of the white chocolate on a sheet of acetate or document protector, and spread it out evenly in a thin layer
• Let the chocolate harden some but not completely set
• Use a ring mold/cutter and cut disc shapes in the chocolate, leaving the chocolate on the acetate paper
• Cover the chocolate with another sheet of acetate paper or document protector and something flat like a pan or cutting board.  This will prevent the chocolate from curving. 
• Place in the refrigerator to completely set. By the chocolate being cold, it is easier to separate the discs from the rest of the chocolate.
• Reserve for assembly

Baking
Sable Dough
Egg Wash
Granulated Sugar

• Take the Sable Breton dough out of the refrigerator
• Lightly Sprinkle a surface with powdered sugar to roll the dough on to prevent from sticking
• Roll the dough out to ¼ inch or a bit less. (Remember that this dough has baking powder so it will rise some)
• Cut the cookies out with a circle ring mold or cookie cutter
• Place the cookies on a pan lined with parchment paper and place them in the refrigerator or freezer to firm up again
• Preheat your oven to 375F
• Prepare the egg wash by cracking one egg in a bowl and adding a TBS or so of milk or water. Mix together thoroughly
• Take the cookies out of the refrigerator/freezer
• Lightly brush the top of the cookies with the egg wash and then sprinkle with some granulated sugar
• Bake in the oven until browned on top and bottom
• For a more crisp cookie, bake them a few minutes more
• Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool on cooling rack or clean surface
• Reserve for assembly

Assembly
Caramel Cream
Sable Breton Cookies
Caramelized Brown Butter Apples
Tempered White Chocolate Discs

• In a bowl, whip the cold caramel with a whisk or in a mixer to med/stiff peaks. Do not over mix or it will curdle
• Place the caramel crème inside of a piping bag fitted with any tip you desire
• Place a cookie down on a clean surface and pipe a ring of the caramel crème on the outside edge of the cookie
• Fill the middle with the caramelized brown butter apples
• If desired, decorate the top of the white chocolate disc before adding to the cookie. Place the chocolate disc on top of the cookie and serve.