French apple tart

Serves 8-10 Desserts and puddings

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Method

Roll the puff pastry out on a sheet of non-stick baking paper to a thickness of 2.5mm. Cut out a circle 25cm in diameter. Transfer it on the paper to a baking tray and chill for 30 minutes. Holding a sharp knife horizontally against the cut edge of the pastry, gently tap just a fraction of the way into the pastry all around (cooks call this ‘knocking up’ as it helps the pastry ride with a flaky edge).

To make the purée, peel, core and slice the apple thinly and put in a small pan with the sugar, cover and cook on a low heat until very soft. Whizz to a purée in a mini blender, then leave to cool completely.

For the tart, slice 1cm from the tops and bottoms of the apples, then core and peel. Cut them in half lengthways, then slice across into 4mm half-moons. To prevent the slices oxidising, squeeze over the lemon juice.

Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C F/Gas 5. Sprinkle the pastry with around 1tsp of sugar. Spread with the cold apple purée to within 3cm of the edge. On top of this, arrange the apple half-moons starting 1cm from the edge, overlapping in concentric circles. Brush the apple with the melted butter and dust with more of the granulated sugar and bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked and the pastry is risen and golden.

Heat a grill to medium and place the shelf around 20cm from the element. Mix the icing sugar and cinnamon together and sift it over the apple, take off the paper and slip the tart back onto the tray. Watching very carefully, grill for only a second, until glossy and burnished gold in places. Serve with cream of choice or apple ice cream.

Note: Find our recipe for apple ice cream here

This recipe was taken from the August/September 2020 issue of Food and Travel.

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