Carmelized Apple Loaf Serves 8

This is a delicious autumn or winter dessert and it can be made several days ahead. The caramelized apple loaf is molded in a narrow loaf mold until set, but it could also be made in individual molds. Only part of the skin is removed from the apples. The skin left on gives some chewiness and texture to the mixture.

A portion of the caramelized apples is strained, combined with cream, sour cream, milk, and Calvados. Some of that mixture is used as a sauce with the cake and some of it is frozen into an apple ice cream. The apple loaf, ice cream, and sauce are served together.

The same idea could be applied to pears or other fruits. The stems of the apples, sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent discoloration, are used as a decoration.

The cake should be made one day ahead so it has time to set in the refrigerator, which makes it easier to unmold.

Yield: 8 servings

5 lb. Golden Delicious apples (about 12)
1 Tb. lemon juice to sprinkle on apple stems
1 stick butter (1/4 lb.)
Grated rind and juice of 1 lime (about 1 tsp. rind and 1/3 c. juice)
1/2 c. sugar

Apple Cream Sauce and Ice Cream

Apple puree (one-third of the cooked apple mixture)
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tb. Calvados or applejack, for the sauce only


Decorations

6 lime rind peelings for leaves
1 to 2 tsp. grated lime rind, for sprinkling on sauce
Apple stems (reserved from apples above)


1. With the point of a small paring knife, remove the stems from the 5 lb. of apples in one piece, using your thumb as a pivot. Sprinkle the stems with the 1 Tb. of lemon juice, rolling them in the juice and setting them aside.

2. With a vegetable peeler, remove one wide strip of peel from around the middle of each of the 12 apples. Using a knife, remove the base of the core with the same pivot motion used in step 1.

3. Cut the partially peeled apples in half and, again, using the same pivot motion, remove the cores and seeds from the apple centers. Cut each apple half into thirds.

4. Melt the stick of butter in two saucepans (both preferably nonstick). When the butter is hot, add the apples, half to each saucepan, and sprinkle with the grated rind and juice of a lime and the 1/2 c. sugar. Cover and cook over medium to high hear for 20 to 30 minutes, until the apples are soft and caramelized and there is basically no liquid left in the saucepans. Push about one-third of the mixture through a food mill fitted with the fine screen. Add any pieces of apple and skin that haven't gone through the food mill to the other apples.

5. Line a narrow (preferably porcelain or enamel) loaf pan (ours was a 6-c. pate mold) with a strip of parchment paper to make unmolding easy later.

6. Pack the remaining cooked apples in the mold, pressing them well with a spoon so they are tight. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap lightly on the surface of the apples, and refrigerate to cool for a few hours or even several days.
For the apple cream sauce and ice cream: Meanwhile, put the pur6ed apples in the bowl of a food processor, add the I c. each heavy cream and sour cream, 1 1/2 c. milk, and 1/4 c. sugar, and process until pur6ed. You should have about 4 1/2 to 5 c. Set 2 c. of this mixture aside for the sauce and add the 2 Tb. Calvados to it.

Place the remaining 2 1/2 to 3 c. of the mixture in an ice cream freezer and make ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is firm, place it in the freezer until hard, and then, using an ice cream scoop, make 8 ice cream balls. Place the balls on a tray, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze.

7. At serving time, unmold the apple loaf onto a serving platter and remove the paper. Make a small hole in the top of each ice cream ball and embed an apple stem in the hole to simulate an apple.


8. Pour some of the apple cream sauce around the cake. Place the ice cream apples on top of the sauce, decorating them and the cake with lime peelings cut to resemble leaves. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tsp. grated lime rind on the sauce for color as well as taste, and serve immediately, bringing the whole platter to the table or preparing individual plates for serving.