#201: A Short Meditation Whilst Baking

Scones, Tart, Walk and Share

It begins with freshly baked scones—a nice welcome to offer a client at a counseling session this morning. After, I make a rustic apple tart. It takes just three apples and half a recipe of dough. There’s been a cold snap and their natural sweetness is at a peak so the barest amount of sugar is needed…more from habit than need. I season with the brown spices—cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg—a dash of salt, a splash of boiled cider which never is to be boiled but ever so slowly reduced to a dark syrup, and finish with a bit of Calvados and a splash of apple cider vinegar to wake up the tongue.

When the dough feels rested and chilled, I place it on a pastry cloth with a bit more flour, take my pin and roll to the size of a large round serving platter. I arrange the apple slices in concentric circles and fold the edges over their tips and it becomes a rustic tart. On to the baking tray and in to the heated oven it goes. The timer is set and I’m ready for a cup of tea.

When the apple scent reaches my chair, I know it’s nearly done. A few minutes more and I take it out of the oven and set it to cool. I love to see the steam rise. GP and I take a little walk while it cools and when we return I place it in a basket covered with a pretty tea towel. Out we go again to deliver a sweet surprise.

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