Tarte aux pommes

 This apple tart is adapted from Prue Leith's recipe. The result was pretty good. I love the taste of baked apples with the crumbly crust and the almond cream (frangipane). I feel like it can be improved on somewhat. I will probably update this recipe in the future.

 

Pâte brisée

250g plain flour
½ tsp salt
150g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 large egg, separated
2-3 tbsp ice-cold water

Apple purée

600g (about 6 small) eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm pieces
juice of 1 lemon
30g unsalted butter

Lemon syrup

100g caster sugar
juice of 1 lemon

Frangipane

50g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
50g caster sugar
1 large egg
70g ground almonds
1 Tbsp rum

Topping

4 large red-skinned eating apples, cored, halved, and cut into 2-3mm thin slices
15g unsalted butter, melted

Apricot glaze

1/2 cup apricot jam
2 Tbsp hot water

 

 Make the pâte brisée. Tip the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the middle, add the egg yolk (reserving the white) and 2 tablespoons of the ice-cold water. Using a table knife, bring the mixture together to form a dough, adding the extra 1 tablespoon of water if needed.

Lightly flour the work surface, tip the pastry out of the bowl and shape the dough into a ball, then wrap and chill it for 20 minutes.

While the pâte brisée is chilling, tip the apples into a pan, add the lemon juice and butter, then simmer for 20 minutes, until the apples are soft and any liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and crush the apples with a potato masher or wooden spoon to a coarse purée. Leave to cool.

Roll out the pâte brisée on a lightly floured work surface to a 30cm round and use the round to line the tart tin. Chill for 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. Cover the pastry dough with baking paper and baking beans and bake blind for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the reserved egg white with a fork. Remove the baking beans and paper and brush the inside of the case with the egg white. Return the case to the oven and bake for 10 minutes to dry out the base. Leave to cool. Turn the oven off for now.

Pour 100ml of water into a pan, add the sugar and lemon juice and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the syrup into a large bowl and leave to cool slightly.

Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the beater, on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, until pale and creamy. Add the egg and mix until combined. Turn the speed to low, add the ground almonds and rum and mix until just combined; do not overmix.

Spoon the cold apple purée into the pastry ease and level it with a palette knife, then spoon blobs of the frangipane on top and spread it out into an even layer.

Reheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. Place the apple slices in the warm lemon syrup and turn to coat. Working from the outside edge of the tart, dab each apple slice on kitchen paper to remove any excess syrup and arrange the slices in concentric overlapping circles. When you reach the middle, slice a few of the apple slices in half so they are wafer thin and shape them into an open rose to fill the hole in the centre of the tart. Brush all the apple slices with the melted butter and bake for 30 minutes (it took almost 50 minutes for me).

In a small saucepan, bring half a cup of apricot jam and 2 tablespoons of water to a simmer. If your apricot jam is chunky, I suggest using a hand mixer just to blitz the chunks into a pulp. 

Remove the tart from the oven, leave it to cool for 5 minutes, then brush the top with the apricot glaze.