Apple Tansy - Testing

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 421

1 - Very interesting! The instructions I worked out are pretty good. It ends up making a kind of thin apple soufflé, but not quite. I had no rose water but I'm curious to taste what it (or other flavoring agents) might do.

2 - The bottom seems to tend to scorch, the meringue being so delicate. I'm baking it like a souffle instead.

3 - Baking it seems to work fine! 30 minutes is good. I'm tempted to try reducing the sugar to 1/3 cup.

4 - Tried it with 1/3 cup and Ben thought it wasn't sweet enough. It could be that it needs more apple (I didn't have the full 500g) but I think I agree. Since a 1/2 cup is too much for me, I will offer a range, and next time I make this I will use 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp (or a rounded 1/3 cup) of sugar. Everything else is spot on. NOTE: Upon re-reading the original, it seems I'm supposed to fold the cooked tansy kind of like an omelette but with the apple inside! What?!?

(1760?)

3 medium apples (500g), peeled, cored and cut in eighths
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter
4 eggs, separated 
4 tsps. water
1 Tbsp rose water (or 1 tsp vanilla)
Dash nutmeg
½ 1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In an oven-proof 8" fry pan fry the apples in a single layer in the butter over medium-high heat just until soft. Remove from the heat. Watch carefully, they can scorch quickly.
3. Whip together the egg yolks, water, rose water, nutmeg and sugar until the yolks triple in volume.
4. Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff-but-not-dry peaks form.
5. Gently stir in a big spoonful of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten it, then pour this into the remaining white, gently folding to incorporate and also to preserve as much loft as possible in the whites. If there are white bits left in the mix, no worries.
6. Spread the meringue over the apples in the hot pan and immediately put in the oven. Bake 30 minutes or until the meringue browns nicely on top.  
7. ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS: Pour this over the apples in the pan and fry for about 5-6 minutes or until the underside starts to brown. Set the oven to broil and brown the top before serving.

1760's instructions:

"Three or four apples pare and slice and fry in a little of butter till soft, take the yolks of 4 eggs and 4 spoonfuls of water, and rose-water, and nutmeg and sugar and beat well together, and whip the whites of the eggs to sno' and stir it in, and pour over the soft apples in the pan, and let it cook till set, brown the top side before the fire [under the grill in a modern stove] and fold with the apple pulp inside and dredge sugar and serve."