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- Course: Dessert
- Skill Level: Moderate
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Favorited: 37 Times
Can be made ahead of time.
Alsatian Apple Tart
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Recipe
We wanted to offer an apple pie, but, being a tart shop, we didn’t think it was right to make apple pie—exactly. So this is what we came up with. Here the apples are sliced very thin and then artfully arranged. We keep this on the menu year-round, because we can always get good Granny Smith apples. Like apple pie, this tart is good fresh from the oven or warmed up, and great with ice cream or, since it is French, crème fraîche.
Yield :
Makes One 9-Inch Tart
Ingredients
- 3-4 big tart apples (1½ pounds), such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and halved from top to bottom
- 1 prepared (unbaked) 9-inch Flaky Tart Crust
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ½ cup light cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup Apricot Glaze (see Notes), melted
Directions
1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Using either a knife or a mandoline, slice the apples thin (1/8 inch) lengthwise.
3. Arrange the apple slices in your tart shell, starting from the top tart edge and working all the way around the perimeter of the pan. Repeat, laying the apples in rows of overlapping concentric circles, until the tart shell is full. Use small pieces of apple to fill any gaps.
4. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a small bowl until they are pale yellow. Whisk in the cream, milk, and vanilla. Pour this custard over the apple slices.
5. The custard comes very near to the top of the tart pan, so you must be careful when you move it to the oven. You can also set the tart pan with the apples on the oven rack with the oven door open and the rack slid out about halfway, and then pour the custard in the tart shell; this way you don’t have to move the custard-filled tart pan. Either way, with the tart on the center rack in the oven, bake the tart for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the apples are golden brown and the custard is set. It will feel firm to the touch and won’t jiggle in the middle when you shake the pan.
6. Remove the tart from the oven, and set it on a wire rack to cool slightly.
7. To remove the tart from the pan, rest it on a big can. Make sure the tart is steady and balanced. Slide the outside ring of the pan down off the tart. Place the tart on your work surface, and slide the tart off the pan bottom onto a rimless serving dish or a cutting board.
8. Use a pastry brush or a scrunched-up paper towel to coat the apples with the apricot glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Apricot Glaze
We brush apricot glaze on our fruit tarts after baking them. The glaze brings out the color of the fruit and gives the tart a finished, bakeshop look. You can buy apricot glaze in a jar at specialty stores, or you can make your own: Add 2 tablespoons of warm water to ½ cup of apricot jam. Stir until the jam melts and thins out, then pour the glaze through a strainer. Depending on how much whole fruit is in the jam, you’ll end up with ¼–½ cup of glaze. (Our recipes all call for ¼ cup.) With darker fruits like plums or berries, you can use a darker jam, like strawberry, plum, or raspberry, as long as you strain out the seeds. Melt cooled glaze over low heat or in the microwave.
“We say ‘large’ eggs. Do we mean it? If we said ‘extra large’ and you used small eggs, it might make a difference. For the sake of consistency, we always say—and we always use—large eggs.”
–Frank
© 2003 Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau
Note from Cookstr's Editors
Nutritional information is based on 8 servings, but does not include Flaky Tart Crust or Apricot Glaze. For nutritional information on Flaky Tart Crust, please follow the link above.
Nutritional Information
Nutrients per serving (% daily value)
148kcal (7%)
39mg (4%)
4mg (7%)
69mcg RAE (2%)
142mg
8mg
3g
18g
2g
21g
71mg (24%)
30mg (1%)
4g (18%)
7g (10%)
0mg (2%)
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