Since I still had apples to use up from apple picking, the advantages of living in Upstate NY in the fall, I decided to make an apple tart. It was amazing. It didn’t last more than three days in my house. Since I had 4 egg whites left over, instead of throwing them out, I made myself an egg white omelet the next morning. I kept the whites in a glass Pyrex bowl overnight. Don’t forget to rate the recipe down at the bottom of the page.
French Apple Tart Recipe With Pastry Cream
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (cold, cut into bits)
- 1 egg yolk
- Water (cold)
Pastry Cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 or 4 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean (split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring)
Apple Layer
- 5 5 apples (preferably firm and tart) I used Cortland
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp lemon juice optional
Glaze
- 1/4 cup apricot jam
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (or water)
Instructions
Pastry Dough
- Gather the ingredients.
- Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry cutter.
- Work in the egg yolk until the mixture looks like a fine meal.
- Then use a fork to stir in ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough can be gathered together and pressed into a ball.
- Shape and flatten the dough into a smooth disc shape, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Pastry Cream
- Gather the ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.
- Whisk in the flour and cornstarch until smooth; set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat the milk with vanilla bean almost to boiling.
- Remove the vanilla bean, then slowly and gradually whisk the milk into the egg mixture.
- Strain the mixture back into the saucepan. Bring heat to a boil, whisking or stirring constantly while the mixture thickens and reaches a boil. Continue cooking for another half minute while stirring, then remove from the heat.
- Lay a piece of plastic film on the surface of the pastry cream and allow it to cool completely before using or chilling.
Assemble and Bake the Tart
- Gather the ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
- Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples.
- Place the slices in a bowl and toss gently with the sugar and cinnamon.
- If the apples start to brown, you can toss in a tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Roll out the pastry and fit into a 9-inch tart pan, trimming the excess dough.
- Spread the pastry cream across the bottom of the pastry shell.
- Arrange the apple slices in a pattern over the pastry cream and dot the apples with tiny bits of butter.
- Wrap strips of aluminum foil around the edges of the tart pan to protect the crust from burning.
- Bake the tart in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes.
- Remove the foil, and continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until the apples and crust are nicely colored.
- Remove the tart to a rack to cool.
- While the tart is still warm, heat the apricot jam with the lemon juice until boiling.
- Strain the mixture.
- Then use a pastry brush to apply the apricot glaze over the apples.
- Refrigerate the tart when it has cooled completely.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature.
