Recipe: Huguenot torte

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The following is an indispensable recipe, good for using up apples that are maybe a little past their prime.  You could also use pears, I think, though I've never tried it.  And certainly you could use walnuts instead of pecans. I’ve reduced the amount of sugar in the original recipe (New York Times, 1965), and I often use wildly different proportions than those given here.  Feel free to use a lot more chopped apple and a lot more ground nuts (my last torte used about 1 ½ cups apple and almost two cups of pecans).

 

 

 

It’s different.  It’s not a pie, or a cake, or brownies, or cookies.  It is its own creature.  It is somewhere between meringue and crumble and pecan pie.  It evolves during the baking process: if you open the oven door about fifteen minutes after putting it in, you’ll see it has risen considerably (emphasizing the importance of using a dish at least two inches deep).  At some point it collapses inward, and slumps, and becomes gooey and interesting.  Take it out when it’s almost (but not quite) burnt around the edges, and it has a nice uniform brown bubbly crust on top.  My oven’s fast, so this only takes about thirty-five minutes; yours may take longer.

 

 

It’s especially nice warm.  Let it sit about fifteen minutes after it comes out of the oven, and serve it with ice cream or whipped cream or Cool Whip or whatever you like.   It’s difficult to serve in neat square pieces, but that’s okay; as one food blogger wisely states, “that’s its nature.”

 

 

 

Huguenot Torte

·       2 eggs

·       1/2 teaspoon salt

·       1 1/4 cups sugar

·       1 cup peeled and chopped apples

·       1 cup ground pecans

·       1 teaspoon vanilla

·       4 tablespoons flour

·       2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

 

 

1.     Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2.     Beat the eggs and salt with a rotary beater until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar.

3.     Fold in the apples and pecans. Add the vanilla, flour and baking powder; fold and mix until blended.

4.     Pour into a well-greased baking pan (8-by-12 or 9-by-9 inches, and at least 2 inches deep). Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until sunken and crusty.

 

Serve room-temperature or warm, with whipped cream or ice cream, or both. 

 

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