Hockey Season

For a hockey fan and a great goalie.

Apples

Apples are so good right now and there are so many varieties to choose from. I remember back when I was a kid, all I knew were green apples and red apples. Now there are Ambrosias, Pink Lady apples, Fujis, Transparents, all with their own unique flavors and textures.

I decided for this dessert to use Fuji apples and Honeycrisp apples. For the Fuji apples, I sliced them thinly and layered them with vanilla cinnamon sugar, baked them with weights for 3 hours after pouring melted butter over it, and sliced it up, reheating later on. I made an apple fluid gel with some apple cider and decided to keep the honeycrisp apples as they were, just cutting rounds to showcase their perfect rawness, and doing some thin sheets for height. I dipped them in some water spiked with citric acid to prevent them from browning. I made cinnamon ice cream and an oatmeal almond streusel for crunch.

I was really happy with the way this turned out. The slow-roasted apples were delicious. Not too sweet and had that apple pie taste but richer. The cold cinnamon ice cream lent a great contrast for the hot apples and the creaminess carried the apple gel well also.

Raspberry Lemon Tarts

These tarts have a layer of crushed raspberries on the bottom, then filled with lemon curd and topped off with luscious whole raspberries. I started running low on them so I did some with just three raspberries on top which I think still look adorable.