Whenever I think of Aomori(which is in northern Japan), I think about the apples. Aomori apples are notorious for having a sweet, perfume-y smell, and a soft, juicy texture. So like the best version of a Fuji apple. I got super lucky that my local Japanese grocery store was carrying these, so I figured, why not try my hand at a dessert with them! Normally, when I do apple desserts, I rely on Granny Smith because they are tart and acidic, which makes them a naturally better pairing for sugar. However, while they are sweeter, Aomori apples have a great fragrance to them, especially in the peels, that I wanted to capture. So I used the apples themselves in three different components: a cake filling for a tart, confit in sugar and brown butter as a garnish, and with the fragrant peels, I created a naturally pink syrup, which was perfect for Pinktober, and turned that into a gelee to garnish the tops of my tarts with! And while Aomori apples are sweet, I contrasted that with a coriander-infused homemade mascarpone, which is entirely unsweetened, just to sort of temper down the sugar content in the rest of the components. And for giggles, since my cilantro plant is flowering, and cilantro and coriander are the same plant, I used cilantro/coriander blossoms as a cute little garnish, just to add in that color and freshness.

From a component standpoint, there are some really technical parts of this recipe. The coriander mascarpone is the biggest time suck, because you need to give your heated cream ample time to firm up in the fridge after stirring it with the lemon juice on low heat to curdle it. I would recommend getting that out of the way first, so that as you work on the other components, the cheese will have time to solidify. For the other components, we have a brown sugar pate sucre(sweet pastry), which is our tart shell. The tricky thing here is that we need to bake the tart shell first, then fill them with a brown butter-Aomori apple cake batter, then bake them again. If the shells weren’t baked off enough prior to adding the filling, there will be this layer of raw dough/batter in the bottom of the tart shell that will never fully bake. The apple confit is basically a chunkier version of an apple jam, making it a fairly easier component to make. The apple peel gelee is a fun one, because you’re making a syrup with the apple peels first, just to extract that pink color, then you are melting agar into that and setting it into disks to garnish the tops of the tartlets with. All in all, I would still rate this recipe a 7/10 in terms of difficulty, because the mascarpone can be unforgiving(you can accidentally scramble it if you heat it too high or for too long), and the tart and cake situation can’t be rectified if one portion of it is raw. That being said, if you like apple desserts, this is still one to definitely try out! Even without the Aomori apples, try it with Fuji or gala apples for a similar result!

Makes 6-8 tartlets:
For the coriander mascarpone:
1 cup heavy cream
a pinch of ground coriander
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

In a pot, heat up the heavy cream, coriander, and salt until the liquid reaches 200 degrees F. While stirring the cream, add in the lemon juice. Make sure that the cream does not being to boil, stirring it frequently on medium-low heat, for 5 minutes(adjust the heat as necessary so that the cream does not boil). Then pour the cream into a shallow surface and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until firmed, then transfer to a piping bag.

For the brown sugar pate sucre:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 dark brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed and kept cold
a pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a food processor, blend the flour, sugar, butter, and salt together until a fine crumbly dough forms. Then add in the egg yolk and vanilla, and continue to mix until it comes together into one dough. Refrigerate it for 15 minutes, then roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/8 inch-thickness. Cut the dough out into 4-inch disks, re-rolling as necessary, and place into 3 1/2-inch tart tins. Freeze the tart tins for 20 minutes before baking at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. While the shells are still warm, use a cylindrical heatproof object(I used a metal 1/4 cup measure) to re-press the shells against the tart tins in case the shells shrank during the baking process.

For the brown butter-apple cake:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated aomori apple
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
a pinch of salt
a pinch of ground coriander
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

In a bowl, mix all of your ingredients together to form your batter. Divide the batter amongst the tart shells. Rebake the tart shells, with the batter in them, at 375 degrees F for another 12 minutes.

For the apple confit:
1 1/2 aomori apples, peeled(peels reserved) and cut into large dice
2 tbsp unsalted butter, browned
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
a pinch of salt

Saute the apples in a pan with brown butter, then add in the dark brown sugar and salt. Continue to cook down the apples until the sugar is fully melted and incorporated into the apples themselves – they might begin to look like home fries. Allow the apples to cool before using in the assembly process.

For the apple peel gelee:
Reserved aomori apple peels
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp agar agar

In a pot, bring the apple peels, sugar, water, salt, and lemon juice to a boil and reduce by half. Once the liquid is a bright pink color, strain out the peels. Then add in the agar to the liquid. Bring to a simmer again until the agar is dissolved into the liquid. Pour the liquid into a large shallow container and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill the liquid for 10 minutes before cutting out 2-inch disks of the gelee to garnish the tops of the tartlets with.

For garnish:
Coriander blossoms

Place cubes of the apple confit on top of each tart, then pipe the mascarpone on top of that. Garnish the top with the disk of apple gelee, and the sides with some of the coriander blossoms to finish.