This is my favourite apple tart recipe. What I love is the balance between the sweetness of the apples and sugar balanced by the freshness of the wine (if using) and the creme fraiche. The crumbly base, firm cooked apples and creamy set custard make for some wonderful textures, too.
There's a short version and a long version of for the method - depending on how many instructions you like. The short version goes a little something like this:
1. Knead together pastry ingredients into a dough, cool 1 hour+ then roll out and to fit tart dish and blind bake.
2. Glaze pastry to seal. When set fill with apples. Mix up custard ingredients and pour over. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake centre of 180-200 degree preheated oven for 20-30 or until set.
3. Optional pretty finishing: Sprinkle with caster/powdered sugar and grill to caramelise top. Cover pastry bits w aluminium foil to prevent it burning.
It was shared with me by a Matthias, a lovely German guy who passed on this French style tart they called 'Flamusse Bressanne' or in German 'Burgunder Apfelkuchen'. I looked up 'Flamusse Bressanne' online to see how common it was and it seems that this is usually made without a pastry - instead making a custard with a bit of flour that sets into a nice mould for the apples. So up to you. I'm sharing with the pastry steps as it is the version I know and it's handy to have a recipe for shortcrust pastry anyhow.
SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY
250g (1 2/3 cups) flour
75g (1/3 cup) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 -2 T almond meal (optional)
125g (generous 1/2 cup) room temperature unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 shot dry white wine (optional)
GLAZE
1/4 cup apricot jam
1/2 T water or spirit like Rum, Cognac or Calvados
APPLES
500-680g apples (3 large or 4 small apples / about 1 1/2 pounds) You can use any firm textured apple. Granny Smith apples are very nice.
2 - 4 T (25 - 50 grams) sugar to caramelise (optional, depending on sweetness of apples)
2 T (26 grams) unsalted butter
CUSTARD
200ml (generous 3/4 c) creme fraiche
75g (1/3 c) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla paste / pure vanilla extract
CINNAMON SUGAR (optional)
1 T (15g) sugar
1/4 -1/2 t cinnamon
Method
Pastry:
(If you don't have a mixer you can use clean hands and just make sure you chill it well before baking as pastry should be cold going into oven).
Place the butter in your mixer and beat until softened. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg and wine, beating just until incorporated. (Don't over mix or the butter will separate and lighten in colour.) Add flour, almond meal and salt and mix just until it forms a ball. (Don't overwork or pastry will be hard when baked.) Flatten dough into disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate about one hour or until firm.
Have ready an 20-25cm (8 - 9 inch) tart pan (preferably with removable bottom). On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a 30cm (11 - 12 inch) circle that is about 3mm (1/8 inch) thick. To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the centre of the pastry outwards to get uniform thickness).
When the pastry is the desired size, lightly roll pastry around your rolling pin, dusting off any excess flour as you roll. Unroll onto top of tart pan. Never pull pastry or you will get shrinkage (shrinkage is caused by too much pulling of the pastry when placing it in the pan). Gently lay in pan and with a small floured piece of pastry, lightly press pastry into bottom and up sides of pan. Roll your rolling pin over top of pan to get rid of excess pastry. With a thumb up movement, again press dough into pan. Prick bottom of dough (this will prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes). Cover and refrigerate for about 20 minutes to chill the butter and to rest the gluten.
Preheat oven to 205 degrees C (400 degrees F) and place rack in centre of oven. Line the unbaked pastry shell with parchment paper or aluminium foil. Fill tart pan with pie weights or beans, making sure the weights are to the top of the pan and evenly distributed over the entire surface. Bake crust for 20 to 25 minutes until crust is dry and lightly browned. Remove weights and cool crust on wire rack.
When cool, spread a thin layer of warm apricot glaze over the bottom and sides of the tart to seal the crust and prevent it from getting soggy. Let the glaze dry between 20 - 30 minutes.
Glaze:
In a small saucepan heat the apricot preserves until boiling. Remove from heat and strain to get rid of lumps. Add the Cognac or water.
Apples:
Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4 inch thick slices. Melt the 2 tablespoons (26 grams) butter in a large frying pan over medium heat and stir in the 2 - 4 tablespoons (25 - 50 grams) sugar. Add the apples and saute until they begin to soften, approximately 5 - 10 minutes. Set the cooked apples aside.
Custard:
In a separate bowl, put creme fraiche, eggs, sugar, vanilla paste/extract and mix well.
Assemble Tart:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (about 350 degrees F) and place rack in the middle of the oven. Arrange the apple wedges in concentric circles on top of the cooled and glazed tart shell. Carefully pour the custard over the apples to just below the top of the tart pan (do not fill all the way or the custard will drip between the crust and the pan). Sprinkle lightly with the Cinnamon Sugar.
Place tart pan on a larger baking sheet to make it easier to remove from oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the custard has set.
Let the tart cool on wire rack, then lightly sieve powdered sugar over the top. Place the tart under the broiler in the oven just long enough to caramelise the sugar on the apples. To prevent the edges of the tart shell from over-browning, you can cover them with a thin piece of aluminium foil. Be careful not to over brown.
To remove the tart from the fluted sides of the pan, place your hand under the pan, touching only the removable bottom not the sides. Gently push the tart straight up, away from the sides. The fluted tart ring will fall away and slide down your arm. If you want to remove the bottom of the pan, run a knife or thin metal spatula between the crust and metal bottom, then slide the tart onto a cardboard cake round or platter. (NB when I made the tart shown in photo I had already packed up my pie dish so had to make do with what I could find - this pan with no handles. I just let it cool in pan and cut slices directly from that with a cake slice)
Serve with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Remember to share! It is very rich and deliciously unsuitable for diets.
Makes 1 x 20-25cm (8 or 9 inch) tart. (That's about 8-10 slices)
