Pompe aux Pommes and Flaugnarde

The pompe aux pommes is the Auvergne's everyday apple pastry — a flat, double-crusted tart of sliced apples baked between two thin layers of pâte brisée, brushed with cream or egg wash, and served warm from the oven. It is the mountain's answer to the Loire's Tarte Tatin and Normandy's apple tart, but more austere: no caramel, no frangipane, no elaboration — just pastry, apples, sugar, and butter. The technique: roll two thin discs of pâte brisée (3mm each). Place the first on a baking sheet. Peel and thinly slice 1kg of tart apples (Reinettes from the local orchards, or any firm, acidic variety), toss with 80g sugar, a tablespoon of flour (to absorb juices), and a scraped vanilla pod or a splash of rum. Spread the apple slices on the pastry base, dot with 30g cold butter, and cover with the second pastry disc. Seal the edges by pressing with a fork, cut a few steam vents, brush with cream (crème fraîche, not egg — this is the Auvergnat tradition), and bake at 200°C for 30-35 minutes until deeply golden and the cream wash has caramelized to a matte, toasty finish. The pompe should be thin — no more than 4cm tall — and is served in wedges like a galette. The flaugnarde (or flognarde) is the baked custard dessert of the same region — essentially a clafoutis made with pears, apples, plums, or prunes instead of cherries. The batter is identical to clafoutis (eggs, sugar, flour, milk, cream), but the fruit defines the preparation: pear flaugnarde in autumn, apple in winter, plum in summer. Both the pompe and flaugnarde represent the principle that drives Auvergnat dessert-making: use what the mountain gives you, elaboration is unnecessary when the fruit is good.