What I'm obsessed with now: (#369) The Autumn Pudding with Orange Toffee & Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream, at Whitehall, NYC

Pastry Chef Ryan Butler takes the comfort desserts, from his childhood, and gives them a modern twist.

My current obsession is his Autumn pudding with Caramelized White Chocolate Ice-cream and Citrus Toffee Sauce. It has ingredients like Orange Juice, Apple Cider, Brown Sugar, Brown Butter, Salt and Pepper, Medjool Dates, plump Sultanas and wonderful chewy Candied Orange Peel (that Ryan hand makes from scratch).

Ryan first soaks the puddings in toffee sauce, then pours more toffee sauce over the top (yes, really!) This pudding, like most of his other desserts uses his signature mix of warm ingredients, mixed with cold. The warm fragrant pudding and hot citrus toffee sauce, mixed with the cold white chocolate ice-cream.

This dessert will be on the menu at Whitehall till mid December, where he's switch it out for a Winter Dessert, so get it while it's hot! (and cold.)

--------------

AUTUMN PUDDING WITH CITRUS TOFFEE SAUCE. Chef Ryan kindly agreed to part with the recipe for his pudding. These make about 12 from a regular size muffin tin. Serve with the best Vanilla ice-cream you can find. 

5 ripe bananas 9 medjool dates , chopped and soaked in boiling water 2 tbs candied orange peel 4 eggs 1 tsp of cinnamon 11/2 cups of sugar 1/4c raisins 2 tsp of baking powder 11/4 cups of vegetable oil

Mash the bananas, add all the liquid ingredients then add all the dry ingredients allow the batter to sit over night. Bake the puddings in prepared molds or muffin tins at 325 for ten minutes or until golden brown. Unmold and soak in the citrus toffee sauce.

Citrus toffee 2 cups orange juice 1 cup apple cider 2 cups dark brown sugar 2 cups butter 1 tbs salt Combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Set aside. There will be extra sauce.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LINDA PUGLIESE

------------

RYAN BUTLER: is a pastry chef responsible for the desserts at Highlands as well as Whitehall restaurants in the New York's West Village. The desserts he does at Highlands are a more pub-style dessert, the ones at Whitehall, are a more composed modern take on classics. To get info on Highlands, click here. To get info on Whitehall, click here.

------------

LINDA PUGLIESE: is a food photographer and aspiring professional pasta maker. Originally from Annapolis, Maryland, she grew up surrounded by sailboats & picnic tables covered in piles of crabs. Her favorite guilty pleasure, is really good vanilla ice cream with a sprinkle of maldon sea salt on top. She will gladly set an alarm hourly through the night to wake up and stir the ragu in winter and could easily live off yogurt topped with blueberry jam. And some days she does. Click here to check out her work. 

What I'm obsessed with now. (#369) The Apple Charlotte, at Whitehall!

Ryan Butler likes to dig through old recipe books. It was there he got inspired to come up with a more modern version of the classic apple charlotte. This 19 century dessert was traditionally a way to use up left over bread from the day before, and convert it into a dessert the whole family would eat. It's like a french toast-meets-apple-pudding kind of thing. A simple invention of white bread and apples. A container is lined with day old buttered bread slices, then packed densely with apples and baked. It's usually served with cream or homemade custard. (Charlotte, could possibly be a riff off the old English word Charlyt which means a 'bowl of custard')

Butler takes a modern spin on this old classic by hand-making a coconut chiffon cake from scratch. He dredges that in eggy Royale (akin to a french toast type dip) and then stuffs it with sweet, local, Honeycrisp apples, and bakes it. To serve, he gives you a jug of just enough vanilla bean, star anise and cinnamon custard, to hang yourself, and also a large dollop of salted caramel ice-cream to push you over the edge. This dish is to die for. (Literally.)

You need to run, not walk to this cosy West village haunt where Brian McGrory, and the mainly British/Australian crew will keep you topped up with cocktails, (including the "No. 1", which tastes like a milky, sweet, cup of tea, complete with almond bikkie on top) and other clever Anglo-derived delicacies. (Also be sure to try chef Chris Rendell's 'Aussie' burger, which got nominated from Time Out New York's top 20 contenders as best burger. ) The Honey Crisp Apple Charlotte with cinnamon custard, and salted caramel ice cream at Whitehall serves two. (So bring a friend!)

Ryan Butler kindly agreed to part with his apple charlotte recipe. (See below.) So if you can't get to New York anytime soon, you can make this amazing dessert at home. Thanks so much Ryan!

-------

HONEY CRISP APPLE CHARLOTTE FROM WHITEHALL Recipe courtesy of Pastry Chef Ryan Butler  

Coconut Chiffon yield (2 half sheet pans) for six charlottes

5 ounces cake flour sifted

3.5 ounces sugar

a pinch of salt

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

2.5 ounces coconut milk

1.2 ounces vegetable oil

3 ounces egg yolks

1 teaspoon water

1 drop vanilla extract

5 ounces egg whites

2.5 ounces sugar

a pinch of cream of tartar

Method combine all ingredients except the second addition of sugar, egg whites and the cream of tartar. In a kitchen aid mixer whip the whites on high speed with the cream of tartar until maximum volume add the sugar mix till shiny fold the meringue into the cake mixture in three parts. Divide the batter between two pans evenly bake in a 350 degree until golden brown

Egg Royale

4 fresh eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

one pinch of salt

Mix till combined.

Honey Crisp Apple Filling

4 honey crisp apples peel and diced

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tbs lemon juice

3 ounces butter

a pinch of salt

2 tbs of corn starch

Melt the butter add the sugars stir to combine add the lemon juice and the apples cook for ten minutes or until the apples are tender. Cool.

To assemble the apple charlottes prepare six molds with butter and sugar. Cut strips of the cake to line the molds dip each piece in the egg royale line the charlotte molds then fill with the apple filling top with a final piece of cake and bake for ten minutes at 350 or until golden run a knife along the molds to release the charlottes.

Ryan serves his charlottes with his own homemade cinnamon custard and salted caramel ice-cream, you could could serve it with regular store bought ice-cream (a little dulce de leche might be perfect!) and/or a classic english custard. 

-------

WHITEHALL 19 Greenwich Ave Between Christopher and W 10th Sts New York 212-675-7261

-------

Photo by Moya McAllister