Fresh Apple Tart Food

CLASSIC APPLE TART

Steps:

• Set the cubed butter on a plate and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Fill a cup with ice and water and set aside. Place 1 1/2 of the flour, 1 8 teaspoon of the salt, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Take the butter out of the freezer and add it to the flour. Pulse the mixture until it looks like wet sand, about 10 seconds. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse until the dough comes together into a ball.
• Lightly flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Then lightly flour the top of the dough and roll to about a 10- to 11-inch circle, sprinkling more flour under and on top of the dough as necessary. Gently drape the dough over the rolling pin and transfer it to a 9- or 9 1/2-inch fluted tart pan (ideally one with a removable bottom). Fit the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan as evenly as possible and press off excess dough from the fluted rim. Set the tart pan on a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350degreesF. Peel, core, and quarter the apples and then thinly slice them lengthwise. Place the apples in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice, the cinnamon, and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 8 teaspoon salt. Remove the baking sheet with the tart shell from the refrigerator. Arrange the apples in concentric circles so they overlap slightly. Brush the edges of the crust with the melted butter and then bake until the edges are golden and the apples have cooked down, about 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

APPLE TART

Steps:

• In a 10-in. cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet, heat 3/4 cup sugar, stirring constantly until it is liquefied and golden brown. Remove from the heat. , In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon and remaining sugar. Arrange half the apples in a single layer in skillet. Sprinkle with half the sugar mixture. Arrange half the remaining apples in circular pattern over sugar; sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. Place remaining apples over all, keeping the top as level as possible. Dot with butter. , Roll out dough to 11-in. circle; place over apples, pressing gently to completely cover. Do not flute. Bake at 400° until apples are tender and golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

FRESH APPLE TARTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract until dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour but not more than 1 day.
• While the dough is chilling, prepare the apple filling.
• In a medium bowl, toss diced apples with sugar and cinnamon. Mix in walnuts.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 16 3-inch tart pans. Remove tart dough from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling out.
• Knead dough briefly on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 6-inch circle, and carefully fit one circle into each tart pan.
• Spoon an equal amount of apple mixture into each tart pan. Fold pastry over filling. Place filled tarts on a baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Melt apricot jam and brush over finished tarts, if desired.

FRENCH APPLE TART

Steps:

• For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.
• Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baller. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. (I tend not to use the apple ends in order to make the arrangement beautiful.) Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.
• Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

EASY APPLE TARTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out to a rectangle about the size of this magazine and trim the edges to neaten. Place the pastry on a baking sheet and scatter with the almonds and 1 tbsp sugar. Score perforated lines to make 6 equal-size sections (this will make the tart easier to cut). Arrange each half of apple, sliced, in its own section of pastry. Can be made up to this stage the night before, covered with cling film and chilled in the fridge.
• Scatter the remaining sugar over the apples, dot with butter, then bake for 50-55 mins until the pastry is biscuity brown and the apples are tinged and soft. Cut the tart into 6 squares, dust with icing sugar, if you like, and serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

FRESH APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crust mix as directed for 9-Inch Two-Crust Pie, using 1/3 cup cold water--except trim overhanging edge of bottom pastry 1 inch from rim of plate.
• Stir together 1/2 cup sugar, the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in large bowl. Add apples; toss. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter.
• Roll remaining pastry; cut into 10 strips, each about 1/2 inch wide. Place 5 strips across filling in pie plate. Weave a cross-strip through by first folding back every other strip of the first 5 strips. Continue weaving, folding back alternate strips before adding each cross-strip, until lattice is complete. Trim ends. Fold trimmed edge of bottom crust over ends of strips, building up a high edge. Seal and flute. Brush lightly with milk; sprinkle lightly with additional sugar.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice is bubbly.

APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, combine sugars, flour and spices; set aside. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss to coat. , On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim even with rim. Add filling; dot with butter. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Beat egg white until foamy; brush over crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edge loosely with foil. , Bake 25 minutes. Remove foil; bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 20-25 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.

FRESH APPLE TART

Steps:

• Place the flour and salt in the food processor.
• Add the pieces of butter (or shortening) and briefly pulse for 5 to 10 seconds or until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
• Add the ice water spoonful by spoonful, pulsing briefly a second or two after each addition until the dough just holds together.
• Empty the dough out onto a lightly floured hard surface and shape the dough into a flat disk.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour.
• Roll out the dough into a circle with a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch.
• Center the dough in a 9 inch tart or pie pan.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Peel the apples, remove the cores, and slice thinly.
• Mix the apple slices together with the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
• Pour the apples into the prepared pie crust.
• Dot the apples with butter.
• Trim the edges of the pie with a sharp knife.
• In a food processor, mix the flour, brown sugar and butter together until crumbly.
• Stir in the walnuts and spoon the topping over the apples in the prepared pie crust.
• Bake the tart for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until the crust is light brown and the apple filling is bubbly.
• Cool for at least 15 minutes and serve.

DRIED-APPLE TART WITH CRISP CRUMBLE TOPPING

Steps:

• Make filling:
• In a heavy 5-quart kettle simmer filling ingredients with a pinch salt, covered, until apples are fully plumped, about 15 minutes. Uncover mixture and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and any excess liquid is evaporated or absorbed, about 1 hour. (Reduce heat as liquid is evaporated or absorbed and stir mixture frequently toward end of cooking to prevent scorching.) Discard cinnamon sticks. Filling may be made 2 days ahead and cooled before being chilled, covered.
• Make topping:
• Cut butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor pulse butter, flour, and granulated sugar until crumbly. Transfer topping to a bowl and chill, covered, until ready to use.
• Make pastry dough when filling and topping are done:
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cut butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In cleaned food processor pulse together pastry dough ingredients and a pinch salt until mixture begins to gather together.
• Press dough evenly onto bottom and up side of an 11-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Line shell with foil and bake in middle of oven until shell is set, about 12 minutes. Gently remove foil (if foil sticks to shell, leave foil on and bake about 2 minutes more) and bake shell until edge is golden, about 5 minutes (tart shell will not be completely cooked).
• Immediately spoon filling into shell and crumble topping evenly over filling. Bake tart in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until topping is golden. Cool tart in pan on a rack. Tart may be made 1 day ahead and kept, covered and chilled, in pan. Reheat tart, uncovered, if desired or bring to room temperature before serving. Remove side of pan.
• Serve tart with whipped cream or ice cream.

FRESH APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450.
• Stir together sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
• Mix lightly with apples.
• Pour into pastry-lined pie pan.
• Dot with butter.
• Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust,.