Back in January, I spent a few weeks in Eastern Europe and quickly became obsessed with their food. I came across @annavoloshynacooks’s Instagram profile and saw that she shares my obsession, so on a whim I reached out and asked if she wanted to do a collaboration. She responded right away and suggested that we make a traditional Hungarian pastry (málnás pite, which is the ubiquitous Hungarian term for pie), but update it using seasonal ingredients - I loved this idea!!! In fact, this is my basic approach to cooking in general.
The traditional recipe called for a shortcrust pastry topped with raspberry jam, finely chopped walnuts, a layer of unsweetened whipped egg whites, and some more walnuts, baked until the egg whites are crispy on the outside but still fluffy on the inside. I updated the filling to use blackberry jam, and also replaced the egg white topping with a sweetened meringue. I also had 12 young apples lying around my kitchen, so I chopped those up, mixed the with red wine, cinnamon, more walnuts, and brown sugar, and threw those between the jam and the meringue. I topped the whole thing with a little fresh rosemary and blackberries to brighten it up.
I was super happy with the result! The jam and the meringue are nice and sweet, but balanced nicely by the earthiness of the walnuts, the tartness of the apples, the slight astringency of the wine, the floral notes of the rosemary, and the mild sourness of the blackberries. I’m not sure if it can compare with @annavolyshnacooks’s version (she replaced her jam with fresh strawberries and rhubarb), but I am sure that I’ll be making it again soon. My obsession with Eastern European food lives on!
CHAROSET:
3 small Granny Smith apples, finely cubed
1/4 cup sweet red wine
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp flour, separated
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, thoroughly so that the flour is evenly dispersed.
Add the mixture to a pan and cook on medium-low, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, until thickened. The goop holding the ingredients together should be nice and brown, but not burnt. The mixture should hold together, like a single big clump of apples, and there should be no liquid.
Remove from heat and set aside.
DOUGH and PRE-ASSEMBLY:
12 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
3 egg yolks (save the egg whites for later)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
9-oz jar blackberry jam
For the dough, butter and flour a 10x15-inch shallow baking dish. Shake out the excess flour into the sink.
In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, cream the butter and the sugar until it is smooth and lightened in color.
Add the vanilla and egg yolks and beat for about 3 minutes until the volume is increased. The egg yolks will stick to the side of the bowl, so scrape down the sides halfway through with a rubber spatula.
With the mixer off, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly increase the speed to no higher than the medium setting and mix until the ingredients are all fully incorporated.
Preheat the oven to 300F.
Pour the dough out into the prepared baking dish and pat it smooth with a greased spatula, pressing it up the sides and crimping if desired.
Spread the entire jar of jam evenly over the pastry using a rubber spatula.
Add the apple mixture and press it flat with a greased spatula.
Bake 30 minutes at 300F.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, several hours. Do not proceed with the next steps until the bottom of the baking dish no longer feels warm.
MERINGUE:
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
Wash the mixing bowl and whisk attachment and dry them both thoroughly. They should be spotlessly clean and dry.
Add the egg whites and whip until they are glossy and smooth, not very long on high speed.
Add the cream of tartar and whip for a few seconds. With the mixer on high speed, slowly pour in the sugar, about 5 seconds, and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.
FINAL ASSEMBLY:
1/2 cup walnuts, very finely chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves removed and lightly chopped
1 cup fresh blackberries, halved
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Pour the meringue onto the cooled pie. It should all flop out in basically a single cloud. Gently spread it evenly over the filling using a rubber spatula.
Sprinkle the finely chopped walnuts evenly over the top
Bake anywhere between 10 and 25 minutes, until the meringue is golden.
Remove from the oven and top evenly with the rosemary and blackberries.