Do you need to practice self-care through baking? Or compete with your sibling's dessert this Thanksgiving? Either way this tart is the right answer. It's a gorgeous showstopper. It is more delicate than an apple pie, and is an ethereal way to end a meal. This is not the dessert for a GIANT Thanksgiving dinner with 20+ people. However, it is perfect for a smaller Thanksgiving where you want to win the dessert category. It tastes beautifully like fall apples with a background of sweet, slightly salty, buttery crust. It is perfection served warm or at room temperature and magical with a dollop of sweet whipped cream.
Hi friends, neighbors, and those who accidentally clicked on this website :). I've been gone for a while, but I'm ready to get back to it. I've been playing in my new kitchen for about 2 months, and while I've now got a few recipes that I'm excited to share, I decided to start with this apple tart because--duh--it's perfect for the season. There are so many versions of this tart out there on the internet but I believe that mine, with its simplicity and my secret trick below, it absolutely the best.
NOTES:
My Secret Trick: Other recipes will tell you to soak your apples in warm water to make them more pliant, but I haven't found it to make a difference (and also wet apples will ruin your crust). My secret trick to get perfect apple "petals"is to let your apple slices macerate for a few minutes in powdered sugar. this will make them bend with minimal breaking.
Apple Variety: I've made this tart with pretty much every apple out there and it's always good. That said, this tart works best with a crisp apples like Evercrisp, Honeycrisps, and Cortlands. And while it's delicious with green apples, the green skin just doesn't give you the same WOW factor as the red.
Variations: There are so many versions of this tart, and I've tested them all. Most versions use some kind of almond paste, but this drowns out the apple flavor leaving you with something like an almond croissant plus apples. I believe that my version is a joy in its simplicity.
What Pan To Use: A 9"tart pan with a removable bottom is great for this as it will allow you to show off the beautiful crust. That said, a 9"pie pan works just fine and still makes for an impressive show.
Salted Apple Tart
Adapted from Yossy Arefi's Rose Apple Tart, New York Times
Time: 2-3 hours including chilling dough and baking. Serves 8
Requires 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom or 9" pie pan
Ingredients
TART CRUST
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 teaspoon diamond kosher salt (or scant 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
9 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter cut into 1cm cubes (European is amazing but American works fine)
1 egg yolk straight from the fridge
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon ice water
FILLING
3-4 medium crispy red apples (see note above)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons almond meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
GLAZE
1 tablespoon apricot preserve (preferably smooth but I've used chunky and just worked around the chunks)
1 tablespoons water
FINISH
Pinch of flaked sea salt (optional)
Instructions
STEP ONE
STEP TWO
In the bowl of a food processor (or a medium mixing bowl) combine 1 and 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Pulse processor or stir with a spoon to combine. Add 9 tablespoons of cold butter cubed into 1cm pieces and either cut butter in with a pastry blender or pulse food processor until butter is the size of lentils. Add egg yolk and 1 teaspoon vanilla, and cut/pulse until just incorporated. You'll see some yellower specks from the egg yolk, that's just fine. Add 1 tablespoon of ice water and cut/pulse until dough can be brought together into clumps.
STEP THREE
Dump roughly 3/4 of the dough into the tart pan. Spread the dough across the pan and up the sides. You can use a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap to quickly spread the dough up the sides of the pan. Use as much of the reserved dough as necessary to get the dough all the way up the sides. (If using a pie pan, you'll probably use all of the dough. If using a tart pan, you'll have a few tablespoons leftover). Put the shaped tart into the freezer for 30 minutes or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze to use at a future date.
STEP FOUR
After chilling tart crust for 30 minutes (or a few days), preheat oven to 375 degrees or (350 degrees Convection). If using a tart pan, put your crust on a sheet pan. This prevents dropping the outside ring of the tart pan when you try and get it out of the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes until it begins to take on a golden color and puffs up a bit. Remove from the oven and set aside.
STEP FIVE
Using the photos below as a guide, cut the apples into 3 sections, leaving behind the core. Then, using a sharp knife or a mandolin, cut the apples into roughly 1/16 of an inch slices (I've only ever used a knife). Put apples into a medium bowl and mix apple slices with 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Set aside. Your apples are going to melt that powdered sugar and start to soften just a tiny bit. This means that it will be easier to shap your apples as you get to the center of your tart! You're welcome :)
STEP SIX
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (or 350 on Convection). In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons almond flour with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt. Sprinkle the cinnamon-almond mixture on the crust bottom. Then begin to line up your apples around the outside of the tart. Each apple should overlap the previous by about 1/2-2/3. If you've cut any extra thin slices, save those for the center peices since those require the most flexibility.
STEP SEVEN
Cover the edges of your crust with some torn up strips of tinfoil (see photo above). The tinfoil can be loose, it will prevent the edges of the crust from browning too quickly. Cut up 2 tablespoons of butter into roughly 1cm cubes and sprinkle them over your apple slices. If you're using a tart pan, remember that it needs to be on a baking sheet so the bottom doesn't fall off when you put it in or take it out of the oven.
STEP EIGHT
Bake your tart for 20 minutes and then check to see whether the edges are browning. If the crust is already coming along, then leave it covered. Otherwise, remove the tinfoil and cook for another 10-20 minutes (30-40 minutes total). The tart is done when the apple slices start to take on color and the visible tart crust has a lovely bronzed color. Remove tart from oven and set aside.
STEP NINE
Mix together about 1 tablespoon of apricot preserve or jam and 1 tablespoon of water. I don't bother measuring these ingredients). Using a microwave heat the preserve and water in short 10 second bursts until very warm and viscus. This takes me 2x10 second bursts. Mix the water and jam together and then use a pastry brush, basting brush, or allow to cool slightly and use your finger tips to spread over the top of the tart, and it's done!
Serve warm or at room temperature with a pinch of flaked sea salt over the top! Serve on its own, with whipped cream or with ice cream. Leftover tart, if there is any, can be stored in the fridge for a few days.
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