Apple Pie Tart
cooklocal
Photo by James Ransom
- Serves
- 8
This recipe is inspired by one of my very favorite bloggers, Orangette. This is a recipe that Orangette got from a friend of hers, so the recipe has gone through several hands and iterations. I've adapted it a bit further, and everyone raves about it whenever I bring it into work.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 5 tablespoon butter, cold
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- .5 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the apple pie filling:
- 3 Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp Apples
- 3 tablespoon sugar, divided
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon pear or apple brandy
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
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WHO: Cooklocal is a Seattle-based triathlete and food writer.
WHAT: A classic, sweet way to use up the spoils of your apple picking.
HOW: Line a tart pan with a cinnamon-spiked crust. Fill the crust with apple slices, dust with sugar, and bake. Part-way through, glaze with a cinnamon-brandy mixture. Serve warm, à la mode.
WHY WE LOVE IT: What's not to love about a classic apple tart? (We could stop there, but we'll go on.) The warm apples in a butter-based crust, the cinnamon aroma that fills our kitchen, the bite of brandy (tempered by a glass of milk)—it's just the thing we want this fall.
Directions
For the crust:
- Step 1
Cut the butter into small chunks.
- Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon until the butter is the size of small peas.
- Step 3
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until the mixture is crumbly.
- Step 4
Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a spring form pan or a tart pan.
- Step 5
Using your fingers, press the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan, spreading it up the side of the pan as well.
- Step 6
Set aside while making the filling.
For the apple pie filling:
- Step 1
Peel and core the apples.
- Step 2
Slice the apples very thinly. This will look like a lot of apples, but it will all work out.
- Step 3
Starting from the center of the pan-filled tart pan, arrange the apples in circles, filling an entire layer of the pan. When the first layer is done, start on a second layer and a third if necessary. Repeat until all of the apples have been used.
- Step 4
Sprinkle the tart with 1 tablespoon of sugar and bake for 40 minutes at 350° F.
- Step 5
Five minutes before the 40 minutes is up, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan.
- Step 6
Remove the butter from the heat and mix in the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, the brandy, and the cinnamon with a whisk.
- Step 7
Remove the tart from the oven and brush with the glaze.
- Step 8
Return the tart to the oven and bake for another 25 minutes.
- Step 9
Cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.