This was a hodgepodge of different French desserts, tied together with Japanese miso and Chinese ginger. Honestly, the inspiration came about from having a shit-ton of apples and pears in my fridge that I needed to get rid of, so I got creative with how I wanted to do that. I remember seeing a Korean pastry chef on YouTube who was making tarte tatin, which is the French caramelized apple tart with puff pastry, but I’m not in the mood to make blitz puff pastry. So I opted for a cake-type of idea instead.

I thought about what pairs well with apples and I love financier, which is a brown butter-almond cake, so I went that direction. I put miso into the butterscotch mixture that I am finishing the apples and pears off with, because that will act as a salt component and it just works so well in caramel in general. I also added a tiny bit of ginger into the financier because who does not like a little ginger in their tart? I sure don’t. Back off my tart, little ginger. Just kidding. I felt like the ginger will compliment the apples and pears and add another spice to the dessert in general.

For the topping:
2 apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
2 bosch pears, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 tablespoon brown butter
butterscotch*

Sautee the apples and pears in the brown butter. Poach the fruit in the butterscotch liquid (before you add the butter into it) for 5 minutes per piece. Reserve two pear slices for garnishing the top of the dessert. Transfer to a lined 6 inch ring mold and roast in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove any residual liquid and pour that into the butterscotch mixture, then continue roasting for another 20 minutes. Repeat this process for a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes. Once the butterscotch has been added, roast one more time for 10 minutes. The caramel that leaks outside of the ring mold may burn, but the moisture from the fruit will prevent the apples and pears themselves from doing that.

For the butterscotch:
2/3 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon yellow miso
residual roasting liquid from the topping
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Whisk the miso into the water to remove clumps. Add in the sugar and bring to a simmer. Keep at low heat and add in the roasting liquid as it accumulates. Continue reducing until the liquid forms a dark amber color then add in the butter. Pour 2/3rds of the liquid over the fruit in the ring mold.

For the financier:
3 egg whites
1 2/3 cups almond meal; sifted
1/3 cups all-purpose flour; sifted
1/2 cup brown butter
2/3 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip egg whites with brown sugar, ginger, salt, vanilla, and baking powder. Once stiff, fold in everything. Pour over the topping, in the lined ring mold, then bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Cool completely before inverting and removing.

For garnish:
Poached pear slices and Chantilly cream