This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe from Baking Chez Moi is a great way to showcase apples when they are in season. The recipe only has a few ingredients but it a little complicated and fussy to make as it basically involves constructing little parcels for the apples made out of phyllo pastry brushed with butter and sugar. This version is made in muffin tins (so yeah, it’s fiddly cutting and arranging all those strips of phyllo!).
In Southwest France, a croustade is a large, not individual sized, dessert that’s made from hand-pulled phyllo and filled with apples and Armagnac and it’s pretty impressive – I’ve seen it made from scratch (even the phyllo!) and it’s absolutely gorgeous!
(all of that what looks like fabric in the background is actually hand-pulled phyllo!)
(this was taken at the Musée du Foie Gras – Souleilles in Frespech in Southwest France)
I actually think I might have preferred making a full-sized dessert as the cutting of the phyllo and layering etc… was fairly time-consuming (and I only made 4 croustades, can’t imagine making lots of smaller ones!). Also, what does everyone do with leftover phyllo pastry? I find I can only buy it in large packages and it’s impossible to thaw just a few sheets at a time…
It was, however, absolutely delicious, despite the fact that it was hard to get a shot that did it justice!
Get the recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s Petite Apple Croustades on page 253 of Baking Chez Moi.
Tuesdays with Dorie participants don’t publish the recipes on our blogs, so you’re encouraged to purchase Baking Chez Moi for yourself which you can do on Amazon (this link should bring you to the Amazon store in your country) or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Then join us, baking our way through the book!
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If I had a large version of these, I think I’d still eat the whole thing myself!
I couldn’t find a small package of phyllo dough either. I just threw it back in the freezer after I made six croustades. Probably not ideal, but now I have some phyllo on hand (maybe I’ll make some baklava).
I think you took a gorgeous photo. These were time consuming which is why I had my husband help me. I was thinking of some apple turnovers with the leftover phyllo dough. If you have another good idea let me know:)
i only made two so they wouldn’t frustrate me, but i think the work was worth it. i would love to try a full size one– looks so pretty!
ps: i often make a spanakopita or other greens pie out of extra phyllo. but i also don’t think its a big deal to refreeze it as long as it hasn’t dried out…when i do that, i usually take a minute to divide up the rest of the box into more manageable quantities so i don’t re-thaw excess the next time. like i’ll wrap up packets of 8 or 10 sheets or whatever.
Wow! Those photos of the phyllo dough being pulled in Southwest France are awesome. Wish I’d known about this dessert when I was there. I agree they’re time consuming but so delicious. Your photo looks great even if it doesn’t do the real thing justice.
I agree, very fussy to make but everyone who ate one thought they were so delicious! Yours looks so pretty!
Just looking into making these from the cookbook recipe, and 1-inch apple cubes seems kind of big for such a small pastry: did you all use this size or something smaller?
I think from memory using such small tins I might have cut 1cm pieces… 1-inch definitely too big for those small muffin tins!