Ingredients (for a 9-10 inch tart)
- 1 ¼ cups flour – sifted
- 5 tbsps. sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 lemon – zest and juice
- ½ cup of cold unsalted butter (plus 3 tbsps.) – cut up into small squares
- 4 large Granny Smith apples
- Apricot marmalade
- Brandy
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Place flour, 1 tbsp sugar, salt, lemon zest and butter into a food processor. Blend in pulses until mixture resembles small crumbs. Slowly add a tbsp of cold water at a time and blend in pulses (don’t overwork). Once dough comes off the sides of food processor into a ball its ready.
- Turn dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, flatten into a round disc & chill for 1 hr. When ready to form, take dough out of refrigerator & rest for 10 minutes. Add butter to the tart pan filling in all the crevices.
- When rolling dough out start from middle and roll out exerting even pressure. Stop often to rotate a quarter turn. If dough sticks, add flour to dough and work surface. Transfer dough to tart pan using the rolling pin making sure the edges extend an inch or so over edge of pan & gently lay it into tart pan.
- Be patient & use your hands! Hold dough with your left hand & with your right gently push the dough into the side of the pan so it fits snug. Fold overhang in, pressing with your thumb to shape an edge. Press sides of the dough so that they come up about a 1/3 inch higher than the sides of the pan. At this point, put the tart into the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes to set up.
- Remove from refrigerator & using a fork prick 20 holes into dough so that it doesn’t rise when baking.
- Blind Baking is where you place a sheet of parchment paper over the tart and place weights on top of the parchment. Ceramic pie weights or dry beans will work. Bake tart about 10-12 minutes, then remove parchment/weights and bake another 5-10 minutes or until the dough begins to color.
- Peel apples & cut them in half through the stem. Remove stems & cores with a sharp knife & melon baler. Slice apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples in a circular row running around the edge of the tart and continue making rows until the pastry is covered with apple slices. Sprinkle with 4 tbsps sugar and dot with 3 tbsps butter.
- Bake 30-45 minutes until pastry is browned and apples edges start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. When the tart’s done and just warm, heat the apricot jelly together with the Brandy and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture.
- Allow to cool & serve warm or at room temperature.
- Enjoy!
Please email me your Tart cooking experiences as I would love to hear from you! I hope you find the tips above useful and if you would like to set up a Tart making class, click here…
