Beurré Normand

I've been posting recipes on this blog for more than 15 years now and I've included most of the recipes that I wanted to record in that time. Lately I've found it very hard to find time to post any more. So, unless something very strange happens, this will be the last post on the blog. For this final recipe I'm going back to one of my recurring themes - French and, in particular, Normandy food.

I first came across the beurré in an old, very traditional Normandy restaurant where I'd already eaten four massive courses punctuated by the customary trou normand. The beurré was served at the end of the meal just in case, by some miracle, the diner was still hungry. Apparently Oscar Wilde would often cycle to this restaurant while he was in exile at Berneval-le-Grand and, apart from the tablecloths, I don't think that much had changed in the place since then. I could barely lift myself out of my chair after that meal so I've no idea how Mr Wilde got back on his bike. 

This is a very easy recipe but you need to remember to soak the raisins and cook the apples in advance. Strictly speaking, you don't have to precook the apple but I'm convinced that the beurré is better if you do.

This is usually served either as a little snack or as a dessert, perhaps with some fine Normandy crème fraîche alongside. It's often eaten cold but, personally, I prefer it warmed slightly and, being less decadent these days, I might serve it with some thick, low-fat yoghurt. Mr Wilde would almost certainly not approve of such restraint. 

60g large raisins
2 tbsp Calvados
4 eating apples 
2 tbsp butter
4 eggs, separated
100g golden caster sugar
120g plain flour

Place the raisins in a small bowl and stir in the Calvados. Cover and leave to steep for several hours or overnight. (If you don't have any Calvados, then you could substitute pommeau or cider or use apple juice if you want to avoid the booze completely).

For the apples, choose a variety with quite a firm flesh. Peel, core and dice the apples - around 1 - 1.5cm dice would be best. The 4 apples should give you somewhere between 400 - 500g diced flesh. Fry the apple dice in the butter over a low heat, stirring to ensure that the apple is coated with the butter. Continue frying gently until the apples start to take on a little colour but stop before they collapse and turn into apple sauce. Set aside to cool completely. This precooking concentrates the flavour and prevents the apples releasing too much juice into the cake during baking.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Butter a 26cm tin. The finished cake shouldn't be too thick but it will inflate a fair amount during baking and so, if the tin looks a little deep for the amount of mixture, that might be a good thing. The tin I used was around 6.5cm deep which should be easily deep enough. 

Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar together thoroughly. The mixture should be very light in colour and increased in volume. Add half the flour and stir in gently but thoroughly to avoid any lumps. Once that's combined, do the same with the remaining flour. Stir in the cooled apple dice and the drained raisins. Whisk the egg whites to the firm peak stage. Stir a large spoonful or two of the whisked egg whites into the mixture to loosen it, then carefully fold in the rest.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake for around 30 minutes. Test that a knife point or cake tester comes out clean. Baking time will vary according to the juiciness of the apples. If the cake needs a longer cooking time, then it might be necessary to cover the top of the cake with greaseproof paper or foil to prevent it browning too much.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 5 minutes in the tin. Don't worry if the cake seems to deflate and shrink somewhat at this stage, that's normal. Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely on a rack. You could sprinkle with icing sugar to prettify the top of the beurré, but I prefer it as it is.