The croustade (also known as tourtière) is a popular Bordeaux treat, comprising layers of thin pastry sandwiching apples or prunes and doused with a sugary Armagnac syrup. My version uses some salty and creamy blood sausage, which marries beautifully with the tartness of apple.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ cup warm water
- 5 tbsp (75 g) butter, melted
- 4 tbsp (50 g) sugar
- 1 tart apple, cored and sliced
- 7 oz (200 g) blood sausage, skin removed
How to Make It
- Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl, then pour in the oil and water. Using your hands, work the mixture until it forms a ball (add a few drops of water if it seems too dry). Knead until it is smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a clean fabric tablecloth on a large table and dust with flour. With your knuckles under the dough (palms down), gently start to stretch it out in a circular motion. When it’s too big to hold, lay it down in the middle of the floured tablecloth. Use the same method to stretch it out, until the pastry is roughly 2 by 3 feet and paper-thin all over (you should be able to read a newspaper through it!). Trim the edges with scissors.
- Brush 1 tbsp of the melted butter on top of the dough and halve. Brush one half with another 1 tbsp butter and sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Fold in half, short edges together, and brush off any excess flour on the underside. Repeat with other half.
- Place one piece of the pastry in the center of the cake pan, leaving the excess hanging over the edge. Brush with 1 tbsp butter and sprinkle with another 1 tbsp sugar. Arrange the apple slices over the pastry base and crumble the blood sausage on top. Place the second piece of pastry on top and tuck the excess pastry around and underneath the filling to encase it. Brush with 1 tbsp butter and dust with 1 tbsp sugar.
- Fold the overhanging pastry from the base over the top, draping it into the center. Brush with the remaining butter and dust with the remaining sugar before baking for 30 minutes, or until the top and bottom of the pie are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.