While watching a French pastry competition, the candidates were required to make this croustade. Traditionally, the dough is stretched really thin over a large table, then rolled with the filling and then as a spiral (although comments on the recipe from people of that area say that the spiral shape was not typical). Needless to say, there was no way I would ever do that, I'm not crazy!
Then one day, while looking through cooking/baking blogs, I came across this recipe. The author of the blog proclaims proudly to be a modern woman and using modern ingredients to make her life easier.
And so, I decided to try it. I liked the idea of working with phyllo and the look of it, in my mind, allowed for the unavoidable tears in phyllo dough. So here I go.
And so, I decided to try it. I liked the idea of working with phyllo and the look of it, in my mind, allowed for the unavoidable tears in phyllo dough. So here I go.
The results were mixed and there is lots of room for improvement but here are some notes.
APPEARANCE:
APPEARANCE:
- It looked beautiful! I just loved the top of the pastry, golden, delicate. It just was very pretty.
- I wonder if I put too much phyllo dough on the top and that's why it is not more uniform in the color.
- My daughter and I thought the taste of the orange blossom water was too strong, overpowering. I followed the recipe except I didn't use armagnac. Does this alter the taste of the orange blossom water? I don't know, but it was strong.
- On the other hand, my husband thought the taste was pretty bland. Go figure!
Notes:
- I used the listed number of apples but ended up with only one layer of apples. Compared to the amount of phyllo dough, that might explain the blandness. I don't know if I used too big of a pie pan, but that needs to be rectified.
- I think I used too much phyllo. I know I used more than the recipe called for. Part of it is because the sheets came apart pretty much as soon as I opened the package. I got lucky to find some sheets torn only on edges to be able to make the bottom of the pie but otherwise, it was just pieces. The top was really fluffy, maybe too much since the layers inside were rather white...
- I realized I forgot to use the sugar... Oooops!
- I had to bake it for 30-35 minutes instead of the 15-20 minutes mentioned in the recipe, just to get to the color. Again, is it due to the layer of phyllo?
Next time:
- I'll use less orange blossom OR replace it with vanilla or even add cinnamom.
- I'll use less phyllo... :-)
- See about using a different pie pan.
- Use more apples.
What about your experiences with phyllo dough?
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