French Apple Tart

Happiness is made of this...

The heady aroma of apples and of cinnamon and butter...everyone is going nuts with Christmas cakes and cookies...so we do something away from the ordinary  ...we make tarts and stay  happy.

I once read a book where the damsel in distress professes her love for the art of perfumes and their creation, trying to win over the hero with the promise of a perfume that smells like pumpkin pie... (Trying to weave a way to his heart, but through his olfactory senses-since her culinary escapades only resulted in the hero running sprints to the bathroom). Some women have it so easy. My man, he would puke all of yesterday’s dinner, if I attacked him with this kind of perfume on. He, however, would be sure to drool if the perfume made me smell like Seekh Kebabs.

Wily woman, me, that’s why lunch is seekh kebabs and roomali roti today.

The barbeque’s spewing smoke and the onions are all spiced.

Anyways, back to the apple tart.

Always poking and pestering friends to help me out with one more blog post, after all, how much sweet can I feed sweet child and sweet dog Romeo?

This time it was Dr. Monica Mallik to the rescue.

Her daughter, actually...she is the one who is always pushing her mum to do something with apples. Way to go Khushboo! FYI, Khushboo means fragrance...err Aromas!

So this apple tart is dedicated to Khushboo Mallik.BTW it has French connections.

For the

French Apple Tart...

You need

6-8 apples (you can dice the soft ones and slice the crisp ones)

3 tbs butter

50-100 Gms sugar

Lemon zest

½ tsp cinnamon powder

Walnuts /raisins (optional...I prefer not to use them, you can)

1 tbs jam/fruit preserve

1 tbs/15mils brandy/rum

For the pastry

1 ½ cups/195 Gms plain flour

¼ cup/50 Gms icing sugar

½ cup/115 Gms butter-chilled

1 egg

Let’s start with the flour and the butter –as usual the food processor to the rescue. I have cold hands (i.e. warm heart). If I try to make short crust pastry with my hands, the pastry acts like a two year old petulant child. It refuses to let go.

Knead the dough with the beaten egg, if it does not come together; add teaspoons of ice cold water.

This is what it looks like. You can omit the egg and make the dough with just ice cold water also. then this will be egg less.

Open out cling film and cover the ball of dough with it.

Roll fairly thin. A little thicker than 1/8^th of an inch will do it.

Remove the film from one side and place the dough on a fluted pastry case. Press out and cut the excess. Wrap and dump in the freezer for a rainy day.

While the case now chills in the fridge, preheat your oven to 200C/405F.

Poke a few holes in the base of the tart. You can use the same film you used to roll out the dough and fill the tart with old beans or ceramic baking beans...if you have them. We are desi...we manage with black eyed peas.

These are also the black eyed peas...only you cant bake them...

Now that the oven is hot enough, pop the tart base in for 20 minutes.

In the meanwhile, peel and core the apples.

Half you dice fine and half you slice into ½ cm thick slices.

The three tablespoons of butter=heat half of it in a pan (too many halves...but they will make a whole) into the pan toss the diced apples add half (again half?) the sugar and the cinnamon and the lemon zest. Cook till you can mash it into a puree. ET voila applesauce!

Remove to a bowl to cool.

Same pan, leftovers –the butter, the apple slices, the sugar, the cinnamon, the lemon zest all. Toss them together, show your omelette making skills and let them bounce and toss about in the air. I tried showing my omelette techniques of being able to toss in the air and catch the flipped apples...well, enough saying that Monica did have some cleaning up to do. The idea was just to coat...where I walk, theatrics follow.

Blamed it on an unfamiliar pan, did I!

Ok tart done, bring it out and brush it with the leftover beaten egg, or a mix of milk and sugar and pop it back 5 minutes. Seal the crust. You can also use a wee bit of butter and sugar.

Now, spread the applesauce on the bottom...

Layer the slices in a circle...        

  Blend the jam and the brandy...we, we love the tadka (tempering)-any alcohol will do...

Coat all over the apples. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/360F and the tart goes back 25 minutes.

When the apples start to crisp and colour, bring it out and refresh the apples with the leftover glaze....back into the oven for 5 final minutes.

Bring it out...and serve warm.

With or without icecream, with or without custard...YUM!

Hey, I’m not just saying it...those were doctor’s orders....Encore!

Khushboo Mallik,I hope to enjoyed the French Apple Tart.

So what are you baking today???