Simple Apple Tart

I won’t lie: above is a HORRIBLE photo. It was taken at night with no other than an overhead kitchen light, and try as I might to edit it to glory, it still looks like this apple tart is in a dark room getting interrogated by detectives. Why? Well, like a bad food blogger, I couldn’t wait to take photos until the next day. I had to eat this tart immediately! The entire thing was all gone in under an hour!

A perfect French baked good:

Guilty of nothing but deliciousness, this tart is one of the most simple dessert or breakfast recipes. A slab of easy or store bought puff pastry dough is topped with sliced apples, melted butter, and apricot jam. And while calling it “healthy” may be a bit of a stretch, on the spectrum from “raw apple” to “Toaster Strudel” it’s probably closer to raw apple.

The recipe is adapted from David Leibovitz’s French Apple Tart. I’ve made it several times, and it’s foolproof enough. Peeling and coring the apples is a bit of a hassle, but nothing too bad, and making the dough is easy to follow if you have the time. If you don’t, there’s no reason why store-bought puff pastry wouldn’t work just as well.

Tips for apple tart success

Type of apple to buy: I used green Granny Smith apples, but anything will work. These particular apples become very soft when baked, which I liked for this recipe, but you could just as easily use Pink Lady apples or Gala apples as well.

Type of jam to use: I used apricot jam and mixed with a bit of water, but apple jam would also be delicious. You could even choose a no-sugar-added variety of jam if you wanted to be a purist with this no-added-sugar dessert.

Making the pastry dough step by step

Step 1: Mix ¾ cup flour and ¼ teaspoon salt together. Cube four tablespoons butter and add it to the flour as pictured above. Mix the butter into the flour with knives, your hands, or a potato masher. You should still see pea-sized bits of butter within the flour mixture. Then, add the three tablespoons ice-cold water and mix just until a dough forms.

Step 2: Roll your dough into a 5 x 10 inch rectangle.

Step 3: Then, fold one side of your dough ⅔ of the way across.

Step 4: Fold the other side of your dough across to make an “envelope.” Turn your dough one quarter of the way around, so that the longer side is on the top and bottom. This process will create similar layers of butters as the ones you might find in puff pastry dough.

Step 5: Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4, two more times, and then wrap your dough in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for two hours or in the freezer for an hour. Take your dough out and repeat steps two through four once again.

Step 6: Rip a sheet of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet and place it on the counter. On that piece of parchment, trace a 14-inch circle. You can trace a 14-inch pan, or you can eyeball it using a ruler. Turn your parchment over so the dough won’t touch the pencil markings but you can still use them as a guide to see how you’re doing.

Step 7: Take your dough out and place it on your parchment. Roll your dough out to match the 14-inch circle. Then, trim the edges of your dough into roughly a 12-inch circle. Place the parchment containing your dough on a baking sheet and then place the whole thing in the fridge to chill while you prepare the apples.

For the tart

Step 8: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel and core five medium green apples. Cut them in half and then slice those halves as thin as you can. A mandolin works great, but a paring knife also works just as well, in my opinion. Take out your dough, and arrange the apples in circles of “tipped over dominoes,” as pictured above. Brush the apples generously with melted butter.

Step 9: Bake the tart for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the edges of the tart and the apples start browning. Cool and then after five minutes, brush the tart with apricot jam.

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