Deep Dish Apple Torte

We loved the taste and look of these deep dish apple tortes when we were in Europe.

When researching recipes, there are a lot of variations, so this approach is a blend of a few recipes. The crust is not the reason for us to eat this, so we went with a utilitarian purchased crust, pressed into a 9" springform pan.

5 large apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used Haralson and Newton Pippin from our trees)

1/2 c brown sugar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Bird's custard powder 1/2 recipe, cooked into custard with 1 c milk

3/4 c apple sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Bake on cookie sheet to catch any leaking. Bake covered for 25 min, then remove cover and bake another 35 min.

Assessment: Not a home run. Despite having baked for over an hour (I extended the time a bit) some of the apples were still hard, due both to the fresh quality of the apples and the fact that I left them in bigger chunks than was wise. The flavor the custard imparted was good, but not as thick or creamy as we wanted. For the next cycle, I think I'm going to cook the apples a bit first to soften them, and then incorporate our homemade apple sauce instead of the custard.