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Light French Apple Tart

Monday, March 31, 2008 | Labels: , , |

So I decided to put on my baking hat again today since it's Sunday and frankly, weekends are the only time I have for baking as the latter does involve a fair amount of work and unfortunately, a floury mess! But, the efforts were well worth it - my apple tart was a joy to my eyes when it came out almost perfect! I don't really want to cut into it at all! Anyways, I first baked a French Apple Tart back about 5 years ago when I was still living in Malaysia for my dear little brother who was the only one in my family with a sweet tooth. Although I myself don't really have much of a sweet tooth, I loved baking and having him try out my baking endeavours.

The French Apple Tart I feel is lighter than most tarts and does not involve pilings of custard or cream. This tart is quite simple to make but as usual with pastries, the crust was the most challenging yet most fun part! To bake this tart, you will need a 9-10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

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Click here for my colourful Neopolitan Marble Cake Recipe


Ingredients:

For the sweet crust:

2 cups flour (no need to sift)
2 large eggs
6 tbsp butter (unsalted)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cold water

For the filling:

3-4 Granny Smith apples (these apples are a favourite for cooking as they are firmer in texture)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Apricot glaze:

1/2 cup apricot preserves
2 tbsp water



Method:

Mix the dry ingredients for the crust together in a mixing bowl. You can either use a food processor to mix or simply use a spoon a.k.a the old-fashioned way which is what I did. Next, add in the butter and cream with an electric mixer (Yeah, I succumbed) until well blended. Now, add in the eggs and cold water. Mix well. The mixture should start to resemble a ball. Remove the electric mixer. Flour your hands lightly and knead into a ball. Now, flour a surface lightly and place the dough ball onto the floured surface. Keep a bowl of flour on hand for kneading purposes. Shape the dough into a flattened ball and refrigerate for about 1 hour if you can. However, you can also opt to roll out the dough immediately but with extra care.

Roll out the dough as evenly as you can, taking care to add flour onto the surface when necessary. Roll it out to a 12 inch diameter circle. Place into the pan carefully, pressing into the bottom and sides well. The dough should be easily handled, if not you might have put too much butter. You can also try folding the flattened dough in half lightly and placing on top of the pan, simply unfold the dough and let slide into the pan easily. The extra dough overlapping the sides of the pan should be trimmed off with a paring knife. It's always better to have extra dough than finding yourself in need of dough to fill the pan!

When you are ready to bake the tart, pre-heat your oven to 350 fahrenheit degrees. Now, peel and core the apples. Slice the apples into 1/4 inch pieces for placing on top of the crust. It's easier to simply slice the halves and place them on the crust before fanning them out. Place the apple slices closest towards the crust first and place the last half in the center of the crust (as pictured).

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Now, dust the apples with the cinnamon and sugar mixture as evenly as you can. Place the tart onto the bottom rack of your oven. Bake for about 45 minutes or until crust turns golden brown.

Once the tart is done (cool the tart for abou 5-10 minutes on a wire rack), prepare the apricot glaze by boiling the water and apricot preserves. Sift the mixture to ensure that the fruit bits do not get mixed into the glaze. Brush the glaze on top of the apples and you're done! The apple tart is good simply on its own, or you may serve with ice cream or whipped cream of your choice.

You can also make the glaze in advance but when you're ready to brush onto the tart, heat the glaze again till warm.

Tip: Place a medium sized bowl underneath the tart pan when cooled, and let the sides slide away. If the crust is done right, the sides should slide away easily.




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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

by the way, wat is a.k.a.?

Tastes of Home said...

dear anonymous, it's also known as....:)

Salt & Turmeric said...

I love the color! im not really a fan of pies but still would love to make some.

Tastes of Home said...

thanks S&T! actually, this is a tart which differs from pies..haha (pies usually have a filling) but it's true - it's fun to bake pastries (when it turns out well that is)

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