Huguenot Torte....is it Really French? Or Even Southern?

This week I decided to tackle the Huguenot Torte. Apples are in season and looking so delicious I felt I needed to make something with them. The great thing about the Huguenot torte is other than the apples, I had everything already in the pantry. And pantry might even be an exaggeration as my apartment has one cabinet to store food. The torte is very easy to make. It is sorta like a cheater's apple pie. And last but not least, it was quite tasty.  I still prefer an apple pie, but this had a crispy top and sticky apple goodness to it. And the recipe suggest serving it with whipped cream, but I would suggest ice cream instead to counterbalance the stickyness, and nothing is better than warm sugary apples and vanilla ice cream. I would not serve it cold, because it must be hard as a rock this morning with the sugar in it. Also, I halved the receipt as I was only feeding 3 boys, and one of whom refused to even try my desserts (calling you out Andrew!).

Before the torte goes in the oven!

  When I made this dessert I figured it must be a very old receipt passed down from one of the numerous Huguenot families that made Charleston their home after fleeing France. I have always found huguenot history fascinating, and aren't we glad we have some streets with funny names to tell immediately when someone is from "off". But this my ladies is a huguenot imposter! Sit down for this crazy news, but the huguenot torte Mrs. Cornelius Huguenin (Evelyn Anderson) contributed is really the Ozark pudding. This interesting NY Times article features the Huguenot tort and traces its origins. Apparently French desserts do not contain baking soda, so that gave it away as a faux french. The culinary food historian John Tyler went so far as to track down Ms. Huguenin in a nursing home and inquired to the name. Apparently Ms. Huguenin had eaten Ozark pudding while on a trip to Texas, and decided to make it and submit it to Charleston Receipts under the name Huguenot Torte.
   I have to quote Amanda Hesser in the Times article, because she sums up the dessert very well:
 "When I tasted Huguenot torte, a recipe that ran in The Times in 1965, I had but one thought: Why isn't everyone making this weekly? The torte is easy to assemble, goes on a transformative journey as it cooks and pleases everyone who tastes it. The silky batter, which blends apples, pecans and vanilla, billows in the oven, then just when it seems as if it might spill over the sides of its pan, it begins retracting until it sinks down into itself like a crater. You and your guests will get past the slight appearance problem when you taste the warm finished cake: the brown crust is like the ideal macaroon, and the center has the gooey, custardlike texture of a proper pecan pie."

my finished project

The Time's Presentation of how it should look like

 I think this is one I will make again, but next time I will get to tell the guests it's unique history and remind any ladies submitting recipes to the local church bazaar cookbook or junior league cookbook that in 50 years someone might track them down to learn, now just why did you call it that?

-christine