French Apple Tart

This was an extremely time consuming dessert, that was well worth it in the end! I went out to buy a tart pan just for this dessert. I didn't know where to look, but I thought that one of the downtown WC places would have it.. aka Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma. I didn't want to break the bank to buy this tart pan.. chances are.. I'll probably use it just a few times. I found this to be rare, Williams Sonoma was actually cheaper than Sur La Table for an item! I bought my 9.5 in Tart Pan for 9 dollars (regular price : /) The sales person suggested that I buy the non-stick one... for 10 dollars MORE... uhh I found that to be pointless because typical pie crusts are like sooo buttery they will not stick to any baking surface ! Oh yea, it was $14 at Sur La Table (but it was made a little better.)

This was another wonderful recipe I found in Baking With Julia . This required me to make a pie crust, chill it, bake it, cool it, make fresh bread crumbs, add to diced apples, bake it, mash it, then add that to the pie shell, and layer on a flower-ish design with apples, brush that with butter and apricot preserves that were pushed through a sieve... sprinkled with sugar, baked... and broiled so it's golden brown. What a mouth-full. It's not as complicated as that though... but is pretty time consuming! The result... an elegant apple tart. : )

French Apple Tart
Makes 1-9.5 inch tart
Recipe adapted from Baking with Julia

Pastry Crust
3/4 cup flour
2.5 tbsp butter, cold
2.5 tbsp shortening
2-3 tbsp ice cold water

Apple Puree
4 large granny smith apples cut into 24 pieces per apple
1 slice of white bread placed into the food processor and turned into bread crumbs
1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1- 2 tsp lemon
2 tsp flour

Apple Topping
2 granny smith apples thinly sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice to keep it from browning
1.5 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup apricot preserves pushed through a fine sieve, and heated in the microwave for 15 seconds


Pastry Crust :
1. In a food processor, pulse the 1/2 cup flour, butter and shortening together until it creates a fine meal.
2. Add in ice water one tbsp at a time while pulsing until the dough starts coming together. Stop (it might only need 2 tbsp of water... or less) and dump onto a lightly floured surface. Add more flour if needed. Knead a few times, wrap it up and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Roll out pastry crust to fit your tart pan, place it in and press in the edges. Take a fork to the crust all over the bottom of the pan to prevent the bubbles. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.

Apple Puree:
1. In a large casserole pan, add the apples, sugar, bread crumbs, lemon, flour, and cinnamon. Toss until combined. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes until it can be mashed.
2. Take out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and mash with a potato masher. It's ok to have small chunks of apples leftover.

Making the Tart:
1. Add the apple puree to the cooled pastry crust. Spread around until even.
2. Layer the apple slices on top starting from the outside. Pack them tightly because they do shrink when baked.
3. You can cut out a circular shape and put it in the center to make it more like a flower.
4. Brush with melted butter, and apricot preserves. Sprinkle with sugar (A step I forgot to do :/)

Baking the Tart:
1. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. The middle of the tart will start to brown before the rest of the tart. When this happens, use foil to cover that area so that the apples on the edges get a chance to brown.
2. Broil if necessary. Everything is already cooked, and the apples don't need more than 30 minutes to get soft. I broil with the piece of foil in the middle of the tart on "LO" for 5 minutes, checking often. Then I remove the foil when the edge apples are as brown as the middle apples, and broil it some more for another 3 minutes. The picture in the book had brunt apples... I think I like my apples slightly brown on the edges, not black.... but that's a personal preference :-)

This is a tart.... a close cousin of the pie... and you know what today is? .. 3-14... aka.. 3.14... Pi Day! Have you had your slice of pi today?

This would be awesome with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!!!