I’ve learned through my various smoking experiments that apples absorb smoke extremely well. My smoking endeavors have also taught me that caramel and smoked apples are a match made in dessert heaven. Baking in a smoker is surprisingly easy and adds a smoked flavor to your baked goods. The most important aspect of baking in your smoker is temperature maintenance. Too much heat will result in charred mess; too little heat will turn your baked good into a soggy mess.
Another important factor to consider is that sugar will burn if it is in direct contact with the smoke too long. In order to avoid this effect in my apple tart I left the top layer of apples bare (meaning absolutely nothing on the raw apples). The top layer smoked beautifully, they were smokey and golden brown. I could have glazed after the smoked, but I didn’t feel the need to, the sweet caramel sauce in the bottom layers was enough to create a perfectly balanced tart.
Everyone knows ice cream goes well with apple centric desserts. I wanted to add a smoky twist to this traditional pairing. My smoked brown butter semi freddo did just that, it contributed a creamy note to this rich caramel dessert. This semi freddo is made with one-part brown butter custard and one-part whipped cream. I used a semi freddo because it is easy to make at home (without an ice cream machine) and the texture is very light due to the whipped cream. Generally, semi freddo is frozen in a baking pan lined with plastic wrap, then it can be unmolded and sliced; however, I decided to serve mine with an ice cream scooper. If you want a more elegant presentation, serving this dessert sliced is sure to impress.
Making the brown butter in the smoker is tricky but worth the effort. This process requires a fair amount of supervision; It is very easy to go from brown butter to burnt butter. Though it only takes a few minutes to make brown butter in the smoker, the butter takes on the distinct smoked flavor very quickly. Both of these dishes are amazing on their own, but together they are outstanding.
Apple Tart:
1. 4 granny smith apples; peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2. ¾ cup brown sugar
3. 1 tsp cinnamon
4. ½ tsp all spice
5. ½ tsp nutmeg
6. ¾ cup butter, very cold
7. ½ cup heavy cream
8. 1 ¼ cup flour
9. 1 egg
10. ¼ teaspoon salt
Crust:
In food processor pulse ½ cup of cold butter, salt and flour until a wet sand consistency is achieved. Add the egg and pulse until dough ball begins to form. Put dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough ball into a thick disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. On a floured surface roll dough into an 11- inch circle then place into a 9-inch tart pan. Trim the edges and place into the freezer until filling is prepared.
Filling:
In a saucepan stir in sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, heavy cream and the remainder of the butter. Cook on medium heat until ingredients emulsify into a sauce. Turn off the heat and let sauce cool to room temperature. Add one tablespoon of sauce to the empty pie crust. With a brush spread sauce until it covers the entire bottom of the crust. Arrange one layer of apples around the bottom of the crust in a circle, brush apples with a thick coating of sauce. Repeat this process until you have four layers. Add one more layer of sliced apple and refrigerate tart until the smoker is prepared.
Preheat smoker to 350 degrees, place tart into the smoker as far away from the fire box as possible. Smoke tart for 45 minutes.
Brown Butter Semi freddo:
1. 3 tbsp butter, cubed
2. 3 egg yolks
3. ½ cup brown sugar
4. ¾ cup heavy cream, whipped
Preheat smoker to 250 degrees. Add butter to a shallow pan. Place pan into the smoker (near the fire box). Let butter cook with the smoker door open until it reaches a light brown color. Remove the butter from the smoker and transfer into another container immediately.
Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl, whisk yolk mixture with a balloon whisk until egg yolks begin to lighten. Place mixing bowl over boiling water while continuously whisking. Whisk until custard has doubled in volume. Slowly add brown butter to custard. Strain custard into another bowl, with a rubber spatula fold in whipped cream. Line a baking dish with plastic wrap. Pour custard mixture into lined dish and freeze for 4-6 hours. Unmold semi freddo, slice and serve.
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