French apple tart

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry: put the plain flour, caster sugar and fine sea salt in a large bowl. Add the cold, diced unsalted butter and rub between your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining.

2. 2

   Stir in one beaten large egg and the vanilla extract, then add the cold water a little at a time until the dough just comes together — it should hold when pressed but not be sticky. Form into a disc, wrap and chill.

3. 3

   Preheat the oven to 190°C fan/210°C conventional. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the chilled pastry to a 3 mm thickness large enough to line a 23 cm loose-bottom tart tin.

4. 4

   Line the tin with the pastry, trim the edge, prick the base with a fork and return the tart case to the fridge to rest for 15 minutes — this helps prevent shrinkage during blind-baking.

5. 5

   Blind-bake: line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans or dried rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes until the base is just set and pale golden.

6. 6

   Meanwhile, peel, core and slice the Bramley apples very thinly (3 mm). Toss the slices with the juice of the lemon and 25 g of the caster sugar to prevent browning and slightly macerate the fruit.

7. 7

   Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles in the blind-baked case, overlapping so the base is covered and you get a rose-like pattern. Dot the apples with small knobs of the remaining unsalted butter (about 25 g). Sprinkle the remaining caster sugar over the top.

8. 8

   Brush the exposed pastry rim lightly with the second beaten large egg to colour it during the final bake.

9. 9

   Return the tart to the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 190°C fan/210°C conventional, until the apples are tender and the edges of the pastry are deep golden.

10. 10

    Warm the apricot jam with the cold water in a small saucepan until runny, then sieve and brush over the hot tart to give a glossy finish. Allow the tart to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing.

11. 11

    Remove the tart from the tin, cool completely on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature with crème fraîche or a little double cream if you like.

Tips

• Keep the butter and water very cold when making the pastry — this gives flakier layers.
• If using eating apples rather than Bramleys, reduce the sugar by 10–15 g as those apples are sweeter.
• Line the edges of the tart with foil if they brown before the base is cooked.
• Make the pastry a day ahead and keep wrapped in the fridge; it improves flavour and handles better.
• To slice perfectly even apples, use a mandoline set to about 3 mm or steady your knife and rotate slices as you cut.

Substitutions

• Bramley apple → Braeburn or Cox’s Orange Pippin, same quantity

  Noticeably different

• unsalted butter → salted butter, reduce added salt to a very small pinch

  Stays close

• apricot jam → clear apple jelly, same quantity

  Stays close

• plain flour → 00 pastry flour, same quantity

  Stays close

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

345

Calories

5 g

Protein

43 g

Carbs

17 g

Fat

3 g

Fibre

18 g

Sugar

150 mg

Sodium

FAQ