Apple tart might be my all-time favourite dessert. I was discussing death row meals with friends recently, and I couldn’t think of a single dessert that would top apple tart: buttery, flaky pastry, apple filling that is sweetened just the right amount (preferably with brown sugar), and balanced with cinnamon and lemon juice. To serve, my preference would be good-quality vanilla ice-cream (tart served warm, of course), but custard, softly whipped cream or crème fraîche are all acceptable alternatives.
I even like the McDonald’s apple pies, occasionally – and they prove my theory that almost anything can be made tastier with a plunge in the deep-fryer. Before coming up with my own recipe, I looked at some created by Richard Bertinet, Darina Allen, Ina Garten, Donal Skehan, Jeremy Lee and Melissa Clark: a healthy mix of Irish, British and American, with a variety of pastry and filling options.
The pastry
There are a few solid options here: baker and author Richard Bertinet uses puff pastry for his classic tarte Tatin, while the American contingent (Clark and Garten) use a sort of “pie crust”: a dough that is enriched with butter and brought together with ice water. Donal Skehan and Jeremy Lee use a standard shortcrust pastry, which is an excellent choice for apple tart – perfectly buttery and crumbly. Darina Allen uses shortcrust pastry for the base, and cream pastry for the top – a popular pastry at Ballymaloe which comprises equal quantities of butter, flour and cream.
The filling
Interestingly, Darina Allen is the only one to use Bramley apples in her tart, which in my opinion, are the perfect cooking apple. They are quite acidic and sour, and break down beautifully when cooked. Garten and Clark recommend a firm, crisp apple such as Granny Smith, while most of the other contenders opt for Russet, Cox or Braeburn. Skehan prefers Pink Ladies, which seemed like a rogue call at first, but actually cooked beautifully and held their shape.
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All are sweetened with sugar (caster, or in Clark’s case, light brown). Bertinet and Garten add butter to the filling for extra richness which is (unsurprisingly) delicious. Cinnamon is a popular addition, as are nutmeg and cloves – and Clark and Lee also add lemon zest and juice, which adds a very welcome acidity. Jeremy Lee’s recipe has a layer of frangipane, which I love, apple and almond are such a good combination.
My apple tart
For this recipe, I’ve opted for a “pie dough” pastry that is flaky, but robust enough to encase the apple filling. I found that with this sort of lattice top, the little gaps between the strips often means that the apples don’t cook through, so I cooked them down first, and cooled them before adding to the pastry base. It’s important that you cool this mixture before adding to the pastry base. Since the apples are cooked first, you could make this apple tart with any kind of apple (though you would need to reduce the amount of sugar if using a sweeter apple). That said, I like the tartness of Bramley apples best.
Recipe: Beth O’Brien’s apple tart
References:
- Richard Bertinet’s tarte Tatin, from Pastry by Richard Bertinet
- Darina Allen’s apple tart
- Ina Garten French apple tart
- Donal Skehan’s old-school Irish apple tart
- Jeremy Lee’s apple and almond tart
- Melissa Clark’s classic apple pie
