A taste of autumn with apples and pumpkin.
I admit I do mourn the end of summer’s sweet berries and peaches.
But the start of fall is definitely easier to swallow with a bounty of fresh apples to bake with.
“Apple Pumpkin Galette” caught my attention because of the addition of the autumn hard squash in it. The recipe is from the new “Sunset Cook Taste Savor” (Oxmoor House) of which I received a review copy.
The cookbook spotlights recipes for 16 ingredients including artichokes, avocados, chicken, cheese and apples.
The straightforward dough recipe for the galette makes enough for two of these free-form tarts, but you can just freeze half the batch to use at another time.
The dough is rolled out into a circle. You fill the center with slices of apples and pumpkin — or kabocha squash, as I used as recommended by the cookbook — that have been tossed with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, a dash of bourbon and sugar. Then, fold the edges of the dough over, before baking.
With Sunset’s meticulous testing, I was taken aback by the amount of sugar called for in the filling, which seemed like way too much. The recipe originally called for 1/3 cup brown sugar plus 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar for three apples and 1 1/2 pounds of squash (about half of a small pumpkin or kabocha). So, I decided to cut the amount of granulated sugar back to 3/4 cup, which turned out to be plenty. But feel free to add more if you have a big sweet tooth.
The pastry bakes up flaky with a hearty filling. My husband was not too keen on the addition of the squash. He would have preferred an unadulterated apple tart instead. Me? I kind of liked how the kabocha made this tart unique. It gave it a slightly savory quality and added a twist.
One of fall’s earliest apples: the SweeTango.
The original recipe calls for Granny Smith apples, but I used SweeTango ones instead, of which I had received a sample. The SweeTango is a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Zestar! apple. It’s got a great crunch and wine-y, spicy flavor.
SweeTango apples are an early season variety. They’re available at Walmart through the end of September, and at Mollie Stone’s and Safeway stores hrough October.
CONTEST: Three lucky Food Gal readers will each win a couple of pounds of SweeTango apples, an apple timer, a cutting board, a T-shirt, and a reusable grocery bag. Entries are limited to those in the continental United States, as well as Alaska and Hawaii. Entries will be accepted through midnight PST Sept. 28. Winners will be announced Sept. 30.
How to win?
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