Another apple tart

Yes, I know. Another apple-story and another recipe for an apple tart. But hey, who doesn’t love apple tart and with it being autumn here, it is apple season. Also this one has a French twist with frangipane added. I found the recipe for this apple tarte fine in the magazine part of a recent Irish Times newspaper.

It is a recipe by Aoife Noonan, a multi-award winning pastry chef and TV chef from Dublin. I love her recipes and have made a few of the ones that have appeared in the Irish Times. In this recipe she also points out that you can use a pre-made pastry, but adds the recipe for a rough puff pastry, which I attempted.

So. I know that frangipani is a flower that smells delicious and grows in warmer climates, but what about frangipane or franchipane (the earlier spelling)? This again is delicious, but to eat. It is a sweet almond-flavoured cream and can be used in different ways including in cakes and pastries, such as the famous bakewell tart.

Opposed to the tarte tatin which is an upside down tart, a tarte fine is literally a thin tart. And yes this one is thin, but so delicious. Aoife also mentions in her write-up that it is best to use apples that will hold their shape because you don’t want them to turn to mush while baking. I used one of our big cooking apples which does cook slower than the others and that was perfect for a more tart taste between the sweeter apples.

Recipe : Apple tarte fine

Ingredients:

For the rough puff pastry:

150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

100g salted butter, cubed

75g cold water

1tsp lemon juice

(if buying premade pastry, you’ll need 130g)

For the frangipane:

30g caster sugar

30g butter, softened

1 egg

¼tsp almond extract

30g ground almonds

For the apples:

3 small apples; Braeburn, Cox or Granny Smith

1tbsp butter

1tbsp light brown sugar

1 egg for egg wash

Method

For the pastry:

Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the butter. Mix the butter around to coat it in flour, just until it starts to look like coarse breadcrumbs. You want to see larger squashed pieces of butter in the mixture. Mix the water and lemon juice together and add to the bowl.
Chop the butter in the flour, until the dough comes together. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a large rectangle.
Roll the dough out into a longer thinner rectangle, then fold one-third of the dough to the centre, then fold the other third over that. Roll the pastry out again to the same proportions as before and fold again in the same way. Rotate the pastry a quarter turn and repeat the rolling and folding. Continue for another three more times, rotating a quarter turn each time. Wrap the pastry in cling film and place into the fridge to chill for at least three hours.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees or 170 degrees fan and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Once it is chilled, weigh out 130g of pastry. Roll the pastry out into a circle, around 20cm in diameter. Place onto a baking tray and into the fridge.

For the frangipane:

Cream the sugar and butter together until pale and soft. Add the egg and mix well, followed by the almond extract and ground almonds. Set aside.

For the apples:

Peel and quarter the apples, removing the core. Cut the apples into half centimetre slices.

To assemble:

Remove the puff pastry sheet from the fridge and prick all over with a fork. Using a piping bag or spoon, pipe or spoon the frangipane in a large circle on the pastry, leaving a few centimetres around the edge. Arrange the apples on top in concentric circles, then sprinkle the brown sugar on top.
Finally dot the butter on top of the tart and brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the puff pastry is golden and the apples have softened and are cooked through.