Gaby
Dough:
120 g (about 4.2 oz) butter
2 tbsp powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
210 g (about 1.5 cups) flour
Filling:
100 g (about 3.5 oz) poppy seeds
3-4 tbsp sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp semolina
2-3 apples
Protein Cream:
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp citric acid
1 packet vanilla sugar
Dough:
Beat the room-temperature butter with the powdered sugar until well combined, then add the egg yolks one at a time. Finally, mix in the flour, then beat the dough with a mixer until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. After chilling, divide the dough into 10 pieces and press the pieces into molds (I used metal ones that I greased with butter and dusted with flour beforehand). Top the dough cups with the poppy-seed and apple filling and bake at 180°C (about 350°F) for 15–18 minutes. The dough is very delicate and soft. There’s no need to add extra flour. I made the dough a few days in advance (a triple batch) and stored it in the freezer; after thawing it was just as good as freshly made.
Filling:
Grind the poppy seeds in a coffee grinder. Pour a small amount of boiling water over them, add sugar or powdered sugar to taste, and mix well. Whisk the egg with a fork and add it to the poppy-seed mixture. If you add a whole egg and the mixture is too runny, add 3 tablespoons semolina to thicken. Skip the whole egg; if you do, you won’t need semolina. Peel the apples and slice them into wedges about 3–4 mm thick. Place a teaspoon of the poppy-seed mixture on the dough and top it with an apple wedge.
Protein Cream:
Add a drop of food coloring at the end if desired. Decorate the cooled baskets with the cream using a piping bag.
