A shocking amount of my meal planning pivots on 'what needs to be used up before it goes off?' and I know I'm not alone in that. This recipe evolved out of having five small Granny Smith Apples that had been in the fruit bowl for some time. The nice thing about baking apples is that they keep well. However, this isn't forever!
I gathered them up in my hands, and thought to myself 'not enough for a pie or a crisp. Huh. What to do...'
Then I took a look at the 99 Ways to Cook Eggs list, and had a brainstorm. If you're feeling fancy, this is Deconstructed Apple Pie a la Mode. If not, it's fried apples with custard sauce and a cookie.
This makes a rich, velvety sauce that would be amazing on a lot of things. Like bread pudding. Or... you name it!
Fried Apples
3-5 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
4 tbsp butter
1/4 c brown sugar
3/4 tsp apple pie spice*
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
In a cast iron skillet over med-low heat (4 if you have a scaled knob), melt the butter. Then stir in the apples, sugar, and spices. Cook with occasional stirring until the apples are translucent. Set aside.
Apples coated in a caramel sauce of their own making.
Custard Sauce
3 egg yolks
1/4 c sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 c cream
1 c milk
You can do this in a double boiler, with the water held just below boiling, or you can do it over low heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with continuous stirring.
Initially whisking the mixture will leave it slightly frothy.
Whisk together all the ingredients and begin to heat at low, or no more than med-low heat. You don't want to let this come to a boil. Once it begins to come up to temp, whisk or stir continuously for several moments (anywhere from 6-8, depending). Sauce will begin to thicken. Continue to heat until sauce will coat the back of a spoon, and when tasted should be velvety.
Easier to see on a spoon, but it's coating the wires of the whisk here, at doneness. Also, the froth has long gone.
Remove from heat. Can be served warm, or chilled. Could even be turned into ice cream.
I served this slightly warm over the fried apples and an oatmeal cookie.
Deconstructed Apple Pie a la Mode