Here’s where I make good on my promise to share not just the good, but also the bad and the ugly with you. Yep, no fooling you. That picture shows a pretty glorious looking apple tart there in the middle, right? And what’s that all over the edge? Could that be horribly charred something-or-other ringing the entire tart? It could be! Ooops!
Last week I churned up a batch of Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream to go with this apple tart. That was optimistic because I really didn’t know whether either had any hope of turning out. The ice cream turned out great, this tart a little bit less so, but it was good enough to eat (at least mostly — after cutting off the charred parts) and it was completely gone within two days.
Here’s the deal: this tart is yummy and easy. And super easy if you take the cheater route, as I must admit I did, and use frozen puff pastry bought at the store rather than homemade. I didn’t plan far enough ahead, either for the ice cream, or for the pastry. So no self-made puff pastry this time, not even the quick type, but next time, I swear! Really!
Crispy Apple Tart
- One recipe of puff pastry dough or quick puff pastry dough (4 turns) or one box of frozen puff pastry
- 4 large apples, Golden Delicious or local tart (but not Granny Smiths, apparently, according to Paterson)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, sliced thinly
See? I said it’s easy, and with such a short list of ingredients, how hard could it be?
Preheat oven to 425°F; sprinkle water on a 13×17″ sheet pan to keep the bottom of the tart from burning. This didn’t precisely work for me, so next time I’m thinking I’d sprinkle a bit more water. Anyway, roll thd dough out into 12×15″ rectangle and transfer to the pan; trim to 11×14″ and dock — poke with a lot of holes — A LOT — to keep from puffing up.
Prep the apples: peel, halve, core and slice very thinly. Peterson’s got this classy way of doing it that I’m still working on — leave barely attached on the side away from where you’re cutting, and then cut off that strip later and fan out the slices. Yeah, right. I did do this, but still mastering how to stop the blade from going all the way through, at exactly the same depth for each. Arrange the apple slices in 4 rows along the length of the pastry. Sprinkle the sugar on top and then lay the butter slices on top of that.
Instructions say to bake for about 50 minutes or until the edges are a deep brown. Start checking the tart after 20 minutes to make sure it isn’t puffing up. I’m pretty sure this is where I screwed up a little. I opened the oven early and tried desperately to poke the puff parts to get the puffing to go down. I ended up keeping the oven open too much and the heating element turned back on, so I think that’s why the whole tart burned itself up. (Hubby said… hey, there’s smoke coming from your oven!) But it was done in definitely less than 50 minutes, so if you bake this, watch the tart more closely.
Peterson’s directions do say that it always sticks and usually burns a little on the bottom — and that if you notice any burned parts, just scrape them off. So, I’m thinking this worked out ok. At least all the people who ate it thought so. We just left the burnt parts behind.
(from James Peterson’s Baking)
