Sunday Baking - French Apple Tart

I have spent the morning baking this delicious French Apple Tart. We have so many apples in the garden at the moment and it's such a shame seeing them go to waste. I love the smell of melted butter, sugar and cinnamon and this is exactly what this recipe main ingredients are, together with the apples. The sweet pastry crust is also quite easy to make if you have a bit of patience, as it requires at least 1 hour in the fridge for the dough to set and about 20-25 minutes of blind baking. But the end result is worth waiting for believe me! You can serve it warm or at room temperature with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. See below the recipe if you want to give it a try and enjoy it, I am sure I will! Have a great weekend. xoxo

Ingredients and preparation for the Sweet Pastry Crust

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 large egg

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg. Add flour and salt and mix until it forms a ball (don't overwork or the pastry will be hard when baked). Flatten dough into disk and cover with cling film and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until firm. Have ready an 8-9inch tart pan with removable bottom. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 11-12 inch circle that is about 3mm thick. Transfered it into the tart pan and roll the rolling pin over the top of the pan to get rid of the excess pastry. Press the dough into the tart pan and prick the bottom. refrigerate for about 20 minutes to chill the butter and to rest the gluten.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line the pastry shell with parchment paper or foil and fill it with baking beans. Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes until dry and lightly browned. Remove beans and cool crust.

Ingredients and preparation for the Apple Tart

6 medium sized apples

2 tbsp butter (divided)

1/2 cup of sugar (divided)

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp cinnamon (divided)

Peel, core and slice 3 of the apples. In a pan melt 1 tbsp of butter and stir 1/4 cup of the sugar, the lemon zest and 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon. Add the apples and sauté over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally until the apples are soft. Gently mash the apples and stir the mixture until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and let cool.

For the top layer, peel, core and cut the remaining apples into slices 1-2cm thick. Melt 1 tbsp of butter and stir 1/4 cup of the sugar and the 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon. Add the sliced apples and sauté until they begin to soften. Spoon the apple mixture into the cooled pre-baked tart and then  arrange the apple slice in a concentric circles over the apple sauce. 

Bake the tart on a baking tray in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 25-30 minutes or until the apples are nicely browned and soft. Remove from oven and sprinkle the tart with icing sugar. Once the tart is cooled lightly glaze the apple slices with warm apricot glaze.