When Rose and I got together a few days after our apple picking excursion, we decided to experiment with some of the apples.

The rosemary currant shortbread is her adaptation of a shortbread recipe she found on Epicurious. Back when we were dating, she and I made rosemary chocolate truffles together; a love for rosemary is one of the things we have in common.

I’ve been throwing cumin onto apples lately, which is most likely due to my poor memory and Kathryn’s inspiring use of coriander in her plums in spiced custard. Kathryn suggested using coriander in apple pie as well, but I somehow remembered it as cumin instead. Luckily, cumin turned out to work well with apples, too. And I could not resist the fresh ginger I found in Rose’s kitchen.

Rose and I stressed each other out quite a lot when we were dating, but our friendship works smoothly and is extremely important to me. This dish is a wonderful example of how we play together; our every conversation turns into an excited bubbling up of inspiration, ideas bouncing back and forth. It is emblematic of us, really - two complicated and very different things that when combined, turn out to work well together.

Rosemary Currant Shortbread with Cumin Ginger Apples
1 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1/3 C dried currants
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary (fresh is better; dried is fine)
2-3 large apples, peeled and sliced
Sugar, cumin, and grated fresh ginger to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Stir together flour, sugar, salt, currants, and rosemary. Add the soft butter and stir with a fork until it comes together as a [very crumbly] dough. Divide the dough in half and pat each half into a 6 1/2″-7″ circle on an ungreased baking sheet. (I assure you, shortbread has enough butter in it to grease the sheet.)

In a separate bowl, toss the apple slices with enough sugar, cumin, and grated fresh ginger to make you happy. I didn’t measure the amounts I used, but I would err on the side of not too much ginger and more cumin than you think you need. A pinch of salt would not go amiss here, either.

Lay the spiced apple slices atop the shortbread circles.

Bake about 15-17 minutes, or until done. They will be lightly golden when they are ready. Cut each circle into wedges while they are still warm, and try not to worry too much about the crumbs you will inevitably scatter.

Optionally, throw together an apricot glaze to brush on top of the apples. This may help the whole thing stick together a bit better.

Posted by Danielle in Sweets, Pies and Tarts, Fruit on November 2nd, 2006 | | Permalink