One of my happiest childhood memories is of baking tarte aux pommes with my mother. I wouldn’t necessarily eat it- for many years I was much more a fan of la tarte a la noix de coco - coconut tart. Mmmh. I’m smiling happily just thinking about it :) My mother is a terrific baker, but her tarts are fantastic. She has the crust-to-filling ratio down to a science, knows the exact thickness the crust should be for each area (top, bottom, angles, sides, corners)…
Recently when I was home, my mother suggested we make tarte aux pommes together. Naturally, I was ecstatic – we had spoken of it in the past few months but had never gotten around to it. After we made the tart together – I was watching with even more avid interest than before- she kindly wrote down the recipe for me (“From an old maïzena (a cornstarch brand, I can’t remember the name now) recipe, I think” she tells me). Herein I shall share this delicious tart recipe. The best part? It’s so incredibly simple, and so good.
A quick note: The pictures here are from my recreation of it a few days later (we had some leftover tart dough). I used the leftover dough to make the minis and made a new crust for the large tart. You’ll notice that the colour is much lighter and the texture seems more crumbly and frail- that would be of two major changes. I used soy butter in place of real butter- much to my mother’s dismay, the French feel strongly in needing real butter for pastry- and potato starch in favour of corn starch. Both were delicious, just different- it’s difficult to compare.
You’ll be surprised at how few ingredients are in this- the filling is so simple, but the baked applesauce is delicious, and the texture of the apple slices on top, divine. So good!
Traditional French Apple Tart
Adapted from my mother’s recipe, from a maïzena container, long ago
Ingredients (makes one large 9-inch tart):
- 130 grams unsalted butter, semi-chilled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used soy butter)
- 4 egg yolks (cage-free, brown, organic eggs)
- 14 soup spoons (my mother was very insistent on using this! “Americans never use the right spoon measurements”) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups organic AP flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch (for a more crumbly consistency, try potato starch)
- 1/2 – 2/3 jar of unsweetened, all-natural applesauce (depending on your preference)
- 1-2 medium-sized apples, peeled, cored, sliced very thinly (my mother used Granny Smith; I used Pink Ladies)
Process:
- Place butter (cubed) and sugar in a large mixing bowl using a pastry cutter (not sure what to call this… my mother kindly gave me one… it’s plastic, round-ish (with an inward area), and hand-held) to cut the butter into the sugar.
- Once these are well mixed together, crack in the egg yolks and cut the yolks into the butter-sugar mixture using the same round baking tool. Pour in vanilla and mix until the whole mixture has a brownish colour.
- Sift together the flour and corn or potato starch into a small bowl. Pour into the liquid mixture in 2-3 batches, mixing together efficiently (still with the round thing) but being careful to NOT overmix. The more you mix, the tougher the dough will get.
- Once the dough is in a ball and has reached a good texture (a bit sticky, but not falling apart by any means) – you can add milk if the dough is too dry and a bit of flour if it is too sticky – set aside and butter your tart pan.
- Preheat your oven to 360 degrees F.
- Place the dough in the middle of the pan, and use the heel of your palm to press it up into the sides of the pan, making sure it’s evenly distributed onto the sides.
- Spoon the applesauce into the tart pan until it is about 70-75% of the way full. Then layer on the apple slices in a flower or row pattern.
- Bake the tart for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the apples are slightly crisped on the edges. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, then serve warm with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream; OR, allow to cool overnight and eat at room temperature (or chilled)- it’s delicious any way you have it!
Honestly, this is a terrific thing for snack, dessert, breakfast… try all of them! You can try other starches, other flours… you could probably make this one vegan, perhaps even gluten-free! I shall experiment more later. :)
PS if you’re confused about the other, odd-looking tarts… those are coconut. It’s just two egg yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of coconut, and 1 tsp of vanilla. I should have removed them from the oven a bit earlier, but… still good!
