A sweet Succot finale

To present fruit as a 'real' dessert instead of eating it plain, a fruit pastry is ideal.

By FAYE LEVY
strawberries 88 (photo credit: )
strawberries 88
(photo credit: )
When it comes to celebrating Succot as the harvest holiday, it's natural to focus on fruit as the sweet finale to family dinners. There is so much to choose from - new-crop apples, pears, quinces, plums, fresh dates, figs and more. To present fruit as a "real" dessert instead of eating it plain, a fruit pastry is ideal, as it showcases the flavor of the fruit in a festive way. Serving a home-baked pastry gives that special occasion feel to the dessert course. Often the best fruit pastries are the simplest. Indeed, some of the most esteemed classics are composed basically of three ingredients, the fruit, the pastry and a little sugar, with perhaps a bit of flavoring accent - a sprinkling of cinnamon, a squeeze of lemon, a dab of apricot jam or a few drops of vanilla extract. Two quintessential examples come from Europe - French puff pastry fruit tarts and Hungarian strudel. Both feature flaky, delicate pastry and flavorful fruit fillings. In the old days, making either of them involved a lot of work. Fortunately for today's bakers, the most time-consuming aspect of making these tempting treats - preparing the dough - need no longer be so, as both the puff pastry for tarts and strudel/filo sheets for are available at the store. Some food historians claim that both these popular European doughs actually were derived from Middle Eastern pastries. According to Food Timeline (Foodtimeline.org), created by reference librarian Lynne Olver, "Food historians trace the genesis of pastry to ancient Mediterranean paper-thin multi-layered baklava and filo. Returning crusaders introduced these sweet recipes to medieval Europe where they were quickly adopted. French and Italian Renaissance chefs are credited for perfecting puff pastry... In Central and Eastern Europe, strudels evolved." Both types of dough give you wide range for forming them into other shapes when you pair them with fruit fillings. With puff pastry, for example, you can create individual triangular turnovers resembling burekas instead of round tarts. All you do is cut the rolled-out dough in squares, put fruit filling in the center of each and fold it in half to make individual triangular pastries. If you like, you can brush them with beaten egg, then bake them like burekas. In the case of filo/strudel dough, the burekas model also applies if you want to make small ones. You prepare and bake the individual fruit triangles just like filo-dough burekas: You cut the dough in a strip, put a little filling at one end, and brush the rest of the dough with oil or melted butter. Then you fold the end over the filling to form a triangle, and keep folding it over itself until you get to the other end of the strip, keeping the pastry in a triangular shape after each fold. PEAR STRUDEL Many in Israel use the term "strudel" rather loosely to refer to a variety of rolled sweet pastries. My mother sometimes used cookie dough or yeast dough. But flaky strudel dough is the classic. Because this dough usually contains no fat, the sheets must be brushed with melted butter, margarine or oil so they won't be dry. Filo dough dries very fast. Always keep the sheets covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel. Uncover to remove one sheet to work with, and immediately cover the remaining sheets. Work quickly when using filo so it won't become brittle. When making strudel, if a filo sheet is torn or dried out, discard it and take another. Slice strudel carefully with a serrated knife and a slow, sawing motion. It's easiest to cut after it has cooled somewhat. Don't worry if the slices aren't so neat - it will still be scrumptious. The strudel is delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream and with sliced fresh ripe pears. 6 filo sheets 1⁄2 cup walnuts, chopped 1⁄3 cup raisins, finely chopped 450 gr. ripe but firm pears, peeled, halved, cored, thinly sliced 1⁄3 cup sugar 2 tsp. fresh strained lemon juice 1 tsp. ground cinnamon Pinch of ground cloves 2 Tbsp. strawberry or apricot jam 1⁄2 cup butter or margarine, melted, or part butter and part vegetable oil 6 Tbsp dry cookie crumbs Powdered sugar (optional, for serving) If filo sheets are frozen, thaw them according to package instructions. In a large bowl mix nuts with raisins. Add pears, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves, and jam and mix well. Preheat oven to 190º. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Lay one filo sheet on a large sheet of waxed paper. Cover remaining filo sheets with plastic wrap and a damp towel. Brush the filo sheet on the waxed paper lightly with melted butter. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon cookie crumbs. Top with a second sheet of filo, keeping the rest of the filo covered. Brush with butter and sprinkle with 1 more tablespoon crumbs. Top with a third sheet of filo and repeat the brushing and sprinkling. Put half of filling near one end of top filo sheet, arranging it in a log shape and leaving a 2.5-cm. border not covered with filling. Starting with the filled end, gently roll dough towards the other end, using the paper to help support dough. Keeping the strudel with its seam side down, transfer it to the baking sheet. Brush top with butter. Make another strudel with remaining filling and remaining dough. Transfer it to the baking sheet. Bake the strudels for 25 minutes or until golden. Serve the strudel warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Makes 6 servings. PUFF PASTRY APPLE TART Unlike most French tarts, this one is a double-crust pastry. It is flavored in the French fashion with vanilla and lemon. In France you can find this simple cake almost everywhere. In top restaurants the pastry chef prepares the puff pastry, but for home baking people purchase the dough. In the winter the tart is served warm, and in the summer at room temperature. 700 gr. apples 50 gr. unsalted butter or margarine 6 Tbsp. sugar, or to taste 2 Tbsp. apricot jam (optional) 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1⁄2 to 1 tsp. grated lemon zest squeeze of lemon juice 350 gr. prepared puff pastry 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt (for glaze) Peel, halve and core the apples. Chop them with a knife. Heat butter in a large skillet until beginning to turn golden. Add apples and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add sugar and jam and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until most of liquid that escaped from apples evaporates. Add grated lemon, lemon juice and vanilla. Taste, and add more sugar or lemon, according to the sweetness of the apples. Remove from pan and cool completely. Roll out half the dough to a thin round about 3 mm. thick and about 25-28 cm. in diameter. Line a 20-22-cm. tart or pie pan with the dough; do not trim the edges yet. Fill the dough with the cold apple filling. Brush edges of dough in pan with beaten egg. Roll remaining dough to a round of the diameter of the pan. Set it on top of the tart. Press and pinch the ends to seal the two layers of dough. Cut off the excess dough at the edges. Brush the top pastry with egg glaze. With a small sharp paring knife, score the top in decorative cuts resembling flower petals, beginning at its center and cutting outwards; do not cut all the way to the filling. With the knife make 3 or 4 holes in the top of the pastry to let the steam out. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 220º. Bake pie for 15 minutes or until the pastry puffs and begins to brown. Reduce oven temperature to 190º and bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is well browned. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 servings. Faye Levy is the author of Fresh From France: Dessert Sensations and, in Hebrew, Sefer Ha'ugot. Her latest book is Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home.