simple apple tart

    
With the abundance of apples at this time of the year I am always searching for new apple recipes to add to my repetoire. While I love the ever so popular apple crisp and apple pie, this year I decided I wanted to try something simpler and lighter.

This apple tart I found on the Smitten Kitchen, was everything it promised to be. The step by step images on the site make this recipe a breeze to assemble and the dough was so incredibly simple to make. I have already made two versions of this tart over the last few weeks so far!

One version I did just as the recipe describes and the other, I added cinnamon to the sugar sprinkled on the tart just before baking to give it a little more oomph. I used golden delicious apples in the first just as the recipe suggests, and in the second i didn't quite have enough so I did a mix of golden delicious and honey crisp apples and it came out just as well. You will need approximately 3 to 4 apples to fill the tart, depending on the size of your pan. If you dont have a pan, just do it free-form or galette style. Served with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, this recipe is sure to be repeated in the future many more times.



Alice Waters’s Apple Tart
Source: Smitten Kitchen

Dough:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water

Filling:
2 pounds apples (Golden Delicious or another tart, firm variety), peeled, cored (save peels and cores), and sliced (3 to 4 apples should be fine)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 tablespoons sugar

Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar

MIX flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Blend in a mixer until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining butter; mix until biggest pieces look like large peas.
DRIBBLE in water, stir, then dribble in more, until dough just holds together. Toss with hands, letting it fall through fingers, until it’s ropy with some dry patches. If dry patches predominate, add another tablespoon water. Keep tossing until you can roll dough into a ball. Flatten into a 4-inch-thick disk; refrigerate. After at least 30 minutes, remove; let soften so it’s malleable but still cold. Smooth cracks at edges. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Dust excess flour from both sides with a dry pastry brush.
PLACE dough in a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan, or simply on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you wish to go free-form, or galette-style with it. Heat oven to 400#176;F. (If you have a pizza stone, place it in the center of the rack.)
OVERLAP apples on dough in a ring 2 inches from edge if going galette-style, or up to the sides if using the tart pan. Continue inward until you reach the center. Fold any dough hanging over pan back onto itself; crimp edges at 1-inch intervals.
BRUSH melted butter over apples and onto dough edge. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over dough edge and the other 3 tablespoons over apples. (Deb note: I found it nearly impossible to coat it with this much sugar, so I used a little less–more like 3 tablespoons. It made a lightly sweet tart, which we found perfect.) Add cinnamon here if you are so inclined.
BAKE in center of oven until apples are soft, with browned edges, and crust has caramelized to a dark golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.
MAKE glaze: Put reserved peels and cores in a large saucepan, along with sugar. Pour in just enough water to cover; simmer for 25 minutes. Strain syrup through cheesecloth.
REMOVE tart from oven, and slide off parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 15 minutes.
BRUSH glaze over tart, slice, and serve.