In the Pink

Your eyes do not deceive, these apple slices are pink. When I read Molly's recipe for apple tart, I decided to make one of my own, but couldn't resist a little twist or two on hers.

First, I substituted store-bought buttery puff pastry for her pie-type pastry - much easier! Then, I sprinkled the sliced apples with ground allspice. The pink twist came about when I added pomegranate seeds to the apple glaze in her recipe.

I had never opened a pomegranate before so I was unprepared for the glorious jewels of the pips nestled snugly amongst the white pith - in fact, I had to read up online for techniques of opening it! I wanted to add the pips to the apple glaze for the sweet-tart flavor that one associates with pomegranates but I fell for the color, a clear, rich, shiny red.

I added a whole pomegranate worth of seeds to the apple glaze made from the cores and skins of the apples in the tart, boiling them down with sugar to make a syrup for glazing. Painted over the cooled tart, it turned the apples from whitish to a playful pink. The flavor was festive, too, exactly the tangy enhancement to the sweet apples that I was hoping for.

The rest of the guests at Meathenge Labs seemed to agree - even Cookiecrumb, who doesn't like desserts, had a bite and said it was tasty, light and surprisingly pink.