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Apple tart
Serves 8 Cakes, Bread and Pastries
Ingredients
- 280g plain flour, plus extra to dust
- 170g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled, plus an extra 50g, melted, to brush approx.
- 100ml ice-cold water
- 8 apples
- 100g caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle
- vanilla ice cream or double cream, to serve
Cook's Note
- This works equally well with other fruit such as peaches or figs – just be sure the fruit isn’t too soft or ripe to avoid ending up with a fruit mush.
Method
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and a pinch of salt. Add the cubed butter and use your fingertips to rub it into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, with flecks of whole butter still visible – you want a very short pastry.
Little by little, add just enough water for the pastry to come together into a ball, taking care not to overwork it. Form the pastry into a ball and flatten it slightly, then wrap it in cling film and put in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C F/Gas 5. Dust a large sheet of baking paper with flour. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out to a 25cm circle, then gently transfer to the baking tray and prick the base with a fork. Leave it to rest in the fridge while you prepare the apples.
Peel, core and quarter the apples, then slice each quarter into about 6 pieces. Use to line the pastry case, beginning around the outside edge and fanning the apples, slightly overlapping, in decreasing concentric circles towards the centre, until you have covered the bottom of the case.
Brush the apples with the melted butter, then sprinkle some sugar over.
Bake the tart for around 40 minutes, until the pastry edges and apple filling are golden brown. Sprinkle a little more sugar over the top and serve with ice cream or double cream.
This recipe featured in the July 2022 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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