Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Rustic Apple Tart

I put this together today for my husband, he's been hinting for a pie and I've been wanting to make a tart, so I compromised... he's getting a tart.  This is a lovely tart, very simple to make, it consists of a Pasta Frolla, a basic pastry dough of Italian baking.  The dough is lightly sweet and has a tang of lemon.  The filling is simple, thinly sliced apples with a touch of sugar and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  Serve it with a dollop of whipped sweet cream or serve warm with a little vanilla ice cream.  Of course, this beauty will naturally stand well enough on it's own!

 Ingredients 

Makes 1- 10 inch tart

For the pastry crust...
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
5 ounces (1 stick plus 2 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut in cubes
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg, beaten for brushing on top of crust

For the filling...
2 large apples, I used Cameo apples 
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
a few gratings of nutmeg, or a pinch of ground nutmeg
a few slivers of cold butter
apricot preserves for glazing

1.  To make the pastry crust, in the bowl of a food processor, add flour, cold butter, lemon peel, sugar and salt.  Process by pulsing until flour looks like course meal.


 2.  Add the egg and lemon juice and pulse until dough comes together.

3.  Gather together the dough and form into a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

4.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unwrap.  Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work table.  Roll the dough to approximately an 11 inch round circle.  Using a 10 inch removable tart pan disk, center the disk over the pastry round, and cut away the excess dough.  Carefully place the dough on top of the disk and place on a parchment lined baking pan.  Brush beaten egg over the entire top of the crust.  Set aside.

 5.  Cut the unpeeled apples into quarters and cut out the core.  Slice each quarter into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick.  

6.  Place apple slices around the outer edge of the pastry, about a 1/4 inch in from the edge, overlapping the slices slightly.  Fill in the center in a circle, overlapping slices until center is filled.  Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of lemon juice over the apples.  Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over apples.  Fresh grate nutmeg over top to taste, or sprinkle a pinch of ground nutmeg over the top.  Place slivers of butter here and there over the top.

7.  Bake for 20 minutes, turn the pan and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are dark golden brown.  Heat 3 tablespoons of apricot jam in the microwave for 20 seconds, just to soften and brush over the entire top of the tart, covering all the apple slices, to give it a nice glisten. Let tart cool for 10 minutes on the baking pan, then with the help of a spatula, slide onto a serving dish.  Enjoy!
 



 


 


 


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