Apple Tart Recipe

Pate Sucree - Sweet Shortcrust Bakery

For approximately 1lb (500g) pastry:
4oz. (125 g) soft butter
1/3 cup (3oz/90g) superfine (caster) sugar
1egg
2 cups (8oz/250g) all purpose (plain) flour
2 pinches salt

1. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and mix for 30 seconds. Add the flour and salt and mix until a smooth dough forms.
2. Place the pastry on a work surface and knead, pushing it out with the palm of the hand and then reforming it into a ball, until the dough is smooth and elastic; this should take about 5 minutes. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before using. Any leftover pastry can be stored in the refrigerator for 4 days or frozen.
3. The egg will prevent this pastry from becoming soggy, even when cooked directly with the filling. It may also be baked blind, in large or small pans, by covering the pastry with waxed or parchment paper and filling it with rice, dried beans, or pie weights.


Tarte Aux Pommes A Alsacienne - Alsatian Apple Tart

10oz. (300g) sweet pastry (see above)
1lb. (500g) Golden Delicious or pippin apples
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup (3oz/90g) sugar
1 envelope vanilla sugar or 3 drops vanilla extract (essence)
4 pinches of cinnamon
3/4 cup (6fl oz/200ml) heavy (double) cream

1. Preheat oven to 425 deg. F (215 deg. C). Butter a 10-in (26-cm) deep tart plate (flan tin). Roll out the pastry dough into a 12-in (30-cm) circle and line the plate with it.
2. Peel, quarter and core the apples. Cut each quarter into 4 slices. Arrange evenly over the pastry in the form of a rose, starting from the outsidee and overlapping the slices slightly. Bake for 15 mins.
3. Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, and cinnamon and beat well. Beat in the cream. Coat the apples with this mixture and bake for another 30 minutes or until the apples are tender. Serve warm.

From France the Beautiful Cookbook
Recipes: the Scotto Sisters
Collins Publishers: San Francisco, 1989.

I'll post a picture of the finished tart later.

About the marking

Written in January 2008, on another blog:

"I finally decided, now with more conviction than ever, how I want to permanently mark my body. It was my second to last day in Saigon and it came to me so clearly as I lay, meditating about the meaning of my trip and my direction in life. ... My exact thought/resolution was that I was to be fabulous from that point on, to show the world what I am and what I have to offer without reservation. It was such an empowering thought. ... I want something to show the world how fierce I can be, and a reminder of the commitment I made to myself.

My life is for me. And instead of wondering whether I'm #3 or #347 on another's priority list, I will be my own #1 Girl."



From Wikipedia:

The Fenghuang [Phoenix] has very positive connotations. It is a symbol of high virtue and grace. The Fenghuang also symbolizes the union of yin and yang. It appears in peaceful and prosperous times but hides when trouble is near. Shan Hai Jing - chapter 1 Nanshan jing records each part of Fenghuang's body symbolizes a word, the head represents virtue (德,) the wing represents duty (義,) the back represents propriety (禮,) the abdomen says belief (信) and the chest represents mercy (仁.)[3]
In ancient China, they can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons. This is because the Chinese considered the dragon and phoenix symbolic of blissful relations between husband and wife, another common yin and yang metaphor.

As a tattoo symbol, the Phoenix can be found in many tattoo genres, but of the Far East in particular. It is a symbol of resurrection, rebirth and regeneration. It also represents purification and transformation through fire and adversity.