An elegant tart straight from France. Try this recipe and enchant your guests with a delicious dessert.
Ingredients
For the Crust
- All-purpose flour – 250 g
- Cold butter – 150 g
- Powdered sugar – 2 tablespoons
- Salt – a small pinch
- Egg – 1
- Cold water – 40 ml
For the Filling
- Apples (such as renet, antonovka, or paper apple) – 1 kg
- Lemon juice – 40 ml
- Butter – 60 g
- Honey – 1 tablespoon
- Vanilla bean – 1
For the Syrup
- Water – 30 ml
- Sugar – 60 g
- Cinnamon – a pinch
Preparation
To prepare the crust, make a well in the flour and place the cut pieces of cold butter in the center. Add the powdered sugar and crack in the egg. Using your fingers or a mixer’s paddle attachment, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine crumbs and the ingredients begin to form a smooth dough. Add the cold water and mix until the dough comes together into a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Prepare a tart pan with a removable bottom (24-26 cm in diameter). Take the dough out of the refrigerator and, using a floured surface, roll it out into a circle slightly larger than the pan. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with the dough. Place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
For the filling, peel the apples, cut them into quarters, and remove the cores. Place each quarter on a cutting board and slice into thin pieces about 2 mm thick. Set aside the smallest apple slices (about 1/3 of the total) in a bowl. These slices will be used to make apple puree for the tart base.
In a saucepan, combine the apple slices with lemon juice, butter, honey, and the split vanilla bean along with its seeds. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and cook for about 10 minutes until the apples are softened and starting to break down. Remove the vanilla bean, then mash the apples into a puree and let cool before spreading on the tart crust.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Spread the apple puree evenly over the crust and arrange the remaining apple slices in an overlapping pattern on top. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the tart is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
For the syrup, dissolve the sugar in the water with a pinch of cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Let cool, then brush the syrup over the apples on the tart.
