Waffling Leftovers: Double Crusted Apple Cheese Tart

More Waffling Fun: Double Crusted Apple Pie.  I mean, why not? #willItWaffle #yesItWaffles #waffleWed

I waffle a lot of leftovers, as you read about regularly.  But they are actually rarely originally desserts, or even baked goods, which surprises many people.  I use the waffle iron as a way to reheat things, not to turn things into dessert.

But sometimes, I do start with dessert, and try to waffle it too.  Those items have been ... less successful than my savories, for the most part (although, ok, what was I thinking trying to waffle butterscotch pudding?)

Good news though: I have found a success.  Pie.

Apple Cheese Tart: Transformation.

Certainly not a standard item to stick into a waffle iron, but, this was a fun one.

So, the burning question: Leftover Double Crusted Apple Cheese Tart: Will It Waffle?

Indeed, indeed it will.  I can't wait to try waffling more pies.

The Original: Apple Cheese Tart.

"Scalloped buttery pastry crust filled with sweetened cream cheese and layered with fresh apples, brandy, and cinnamon." - GourmetXpress, Distributor

The original was an "Apple Cheese Tart", a lovely layered creation with a sweet butter shortcrust as the base, a layer of creamy sweet cream cheese filling, a layer of spiced soft apples, and pastry on top, with cutouts and decorations, all covered in pearl sugar.  Really, this was just a double crusted apple pie, with an additional sweet cheese filling, baked in a tart pan instead of a pie pan.

I enjoyed my first slice at room temperature, with whipped cream.  (And yes, I appreciated the Julie-appropriate sized slices!)

The Original: Apple Cheese Tart: Inside.

The pie, er, tart, was good as originally served, but I like my pie warm (particularly the crust).  I brought home a few extra slices, and heated up the next one.

But .... this pie didn’t work great warm due to the thick cream cheese filling layer.  That layer got a bit odd when you heated it up (it got chunky and separated), so, the pie was best cold/room temp.

But I wanted warm pie a la mode!

Leftover Apple Cheese Tart.

Then it struck me: um, waffle it?  I thought that perhaps the contact with the waffle plates would warm up the crust (and caramelize it!) and leave the center filling perhaps cooler?

Halfway Done ..

So, I stuck a slice into the waffle iron.  350 degrees per my standard.  I pressed down hard, laughed, and walked away.

I checked on it after a few minutes, and, well, it looked far more like a waffle than I ever expected.  And, um, not at all like pie at this point.

But it wasn't as crispy on top as I was hoping, so, I let it go longer.

Waffled Apple Cheese Tart.

It got perfectly crispy as I hoped it would.  The pearl sugar coating, and a bit of the sweet apple filling that ran out really helped caramelized it beautifully.

It extracted very easily from the oven, a solid, um, waffle.  The pie shape was long gone.

My idea didn’t go quite according to plan though - the cream cheese layer still warmed up, and just like when I heated in the toaster oven, got strangely separated and chunky.

Still, I tried it of course.  I topped it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, a generous drizzle of rum caramel (because, um, why not?  Caramel and apples are a perfect pairing!), and a sprinkling of sea salt (aren’t I fancy?).  I plated it really pretty, and then … failed to take a photo.  Oops.

But, lack of photo evidence aside, I assure you, this was good.  Crispy, caramelized crust, warm apples, and, although the cream cheese layer wasn’t quite ideal warm like this, when mixed with melty ice cream, and whipped cream, and caramel … who really cared?

I call this a success, but mostly it made me think about waffling pies that don't have cream cheese layers ...