“In Hollywood, the women are all peaches.  It makes one long for an apple occasionally.” -W. Somerset Maugham, English writer and author of one of my favorite books, The Razor’s Edge

Growing up in Colorado Springs, we had this incredible French bakery down the road from our house in Old Colorado City called “La Baguette.”  (The original owner’s name is Earl Turnipseed!  How much do you love that?!?!)  They supplied baguettes, bâtards, boules, and loads of other assorted breads and pastries to all of the best restaurants in the city, and we often went there for Sunday Brunch as a family.  La Baguette was my first exposure to traditional French cuisine, and it very much helped to form my palate.  My dad used to bring home their bâtards, and I would hollow out the centers like a little mouse and munch away, leaving only the shell of crust behind.  I got in trouble for this regularly, but I was not deterred!

As a kid, one of my favorite treats to enjoy at La Baguette were the mini French Apple Tarts.  They were the fanciest little apple pies I had ever seen, and they were delicious.  Imagine my delight when I discovered that we’d be making the full-sized version at school!  The photograph above is of my very first attempt, and we’ve since made another in class.  Word on the street on campus is that we’ll have to do this several more times before we graduate, as it’s expected that we are expert at this tart by the time they let us go into the “real world.”  No complaints here!

There are three main components to the classic French Apple Tart.  The first is the “pâte sucré,” or classic, lightly sweet French pastry dough that is used to make the tart shell.  The second is the apple compote filling.  And the third, of course, is the gorgeous floral apple design on top.  ”This looks impossible to make” is what you might be thinking to yourself.  And the truth is, it’s actually very, very easy with a few little tricks and tips, and it really doesn’t take much time at all.  And the even better news?  Aside from the pastry dough, there’s hardly and sugar or butter involved at all.  Le huh?  Have we found French nirvana?  Why, yes monsieur, I believe we have!

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour, levelled

1/2 cup very cold butter, cut into small cubes, roughly 1/2″ in size

2 tbsp. granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 whole egg, beaten

2 tbsp. cold water

Apple Compote:

4 Granny Smith apples

2-3 tbsp. butter

2-3 tbsp. granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

Decoration:

2 Granny Smith apples

2-3 tbsp. melted butter

Sugar for sprinkling

2 tablespoons apricot jam or jelly

Water

Instructions:

1.  Begin by making the pastry dough.  (Yes, the prospect of making a French pastry dough that will come out perfectly is a bit daunting, but if you just follow a few simple steps properly it should work without much of a problem.  Remember I am always here to answer any questions that arise as best I can.)  You will need a dough scraper (there are metal ones, but the plastic ones are super cheap and work just fine), and you will need to start with a clean, dry work surface.  Dump sifted flour in a mound on the work surface and add the 2 tbsp. sugar and pinch of salt.  Swirl together with fingertip to incorporate.

2.  Dump butter cubes on top of the flour mixture evenly.  It is extremely important that the butter cubes are very cold before you do this so that it remains solid and doesn’t melt.  Working quickly with the flat end of the dough scraper, cut the butter into the flour mixture using rapid up-and-down motions against the work surface, starting at the front of the mound and working toward the back.  Keep re-gathering the mixture with the dough scraper and repeating this process, until the mixture resembles coarse sand and the butter is roughly the size of small peas.

3.  Form a large well with the mixure, roughly 6″ across.  Add the beaten egg to the well along with about half of the cold water and swirl into the flour mixture gradually with finger.  (NOTE:  Only use the other half if you absolutely need it to hold the dough together.)  Pull all of the mixture together and work a few turns quickly against table until it pulls together in a nice mound.

4.  Break off a walnut-sized piece of the dough, and using the heel of your hand, press out across the work surface in a straight line going away from you.  Scrape back up with dough scraper and set aside.  Repeat this process until all of the dough is pressed out.  Work quickly, you do not want the butter to melt.  Gather all of the pressed dough back into a ball and form into a thick disc.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the other ingredients.

5.  Next, let’s get the compote going.  This is probably the easiest part of the tart, which is the good news.  Wash, peel, and core the 4 Granny Smith apples and cut into rough chunks about 3/4″ or so in size.  Place in a saucepan.  (NOTE:  To prevent the apples from turning brown while you chop them, you can always rub the peeled apples with a bit of lemon juice.  This will keep them nice and fresh.)  Add the butter, sugar, and a bit of water into the pan and put over low heat with a lid, leaving a small vent for air to escape.

6.  The idea here is to cook down the apples slowly until they basically melt and turn to mush, but of course, you don’t want to burn the bottom of the pan, so check occasionally to stir.  If it gets too dry on the bottom of the pan, add a bit more water and stir.  The compote is ready when it looks like chunky applesauce and the apples are very soft, and there is no liquid left in the pan.  The whole process here takes about 20 minutes.  When ready, place the compote in a bowl and refrigerate to cool down completely.  (Compote must be completely cool before adding to tart shell.)

7.  After dough has rested in the refrigerator for at least 30-45 minutes, remove, allow to soften on the work surface, and then begin to roll out.  Sprinkle the work surface with plenty of flour, and make sure the disc of dough is coated with flour on both sides.  Also coat the rolling pin with a light dusting of flour.  (NOTE:  Don’t be stingy with the flour here.  It helps the pastry to refrain from sticking to anything, and you can always brush the excess off later.)  Roll dough out until it’s about 1/8″ thick.  Be sure that the dough is of even thickness everywhere.

8.  Rub the insides of a tart shell with a thin layer of butter.  Roll the pastry dough up onto the rolling pin and then unroll it into the tart shell.  Using a small ball of excess dough, press the dough neatly into the tart shell.  Fold the excess dough in toward the center of the tart shell so that about 1/2″ of the dough hangs over.  Roll the rolling pin around the edges of the tart shell pan lightly.  This will trim away the excess dough and leave the 1/2″ overhang just created.

9.  Using one fingertip on one side of the tart shell and two fingertips on the other side, crimp the 1/2″ overhang into a fluted edge (see photograph above or this video).  Using a fork, dock the bottom of the tart shell evenly so it looks something like this.  Place tart shell back in the refrigerator to harden and cool.

10.  Preheat oven to 400ºF.

11.  When compote is completely cooled and tart shell is hardened, fill the shell with the compote using a rubber spatula.  Compote should be packed relatively tightly and should come all the way up to the top of the tart shell pan.  This can be placed back in the refrigerator while you work on the decorative topping.

12.  Wash, peel, halve, and core the remaining 2 Granny Smith apples.  Place one of the apple halves in front of you on the cutting board so that the cored void goes right-to-left, not up-and-down vertically.  Using a paring knife, make even, thin slices (about 1/16″ thick).  Repeat until both apples are sliced.  (Again, sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning.)  Carefully arrange apple slices around the circumference of the tart as shown in the photograph above until the entire tart is covered.  (Only use the slices that are cut nicely – you can use the rest for the flower in the center.)  Form the flower in the center with the leftovers until all of the compote is completely covered.  Brush the entire top of the tart with a light coating of melted butter, taking care not to disturb the decoration, and then sprinkle with a bit of sugar.  Bake at 400º for about 20-30 minutes, or until the apple slices begin to take on a nice golden brown hue and the crust is darkened and dry, but of course not burnt.  Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.

13.  While tart is cooling, add a few tablespoons of apricot jam or jelly into a small pan with a few tablespoons of water.  Mix over low heat until a lightly syrupy consistency is achieved and there are no lumps.  This will create a nice glaze for the tart.

14.  Brush the apricot glaze over the top of the apple slices and crust, taking care not to disturb the decoration.  This will finish the tart with an appealing shiny surface.  Voila!

Yield: How ya like them apples in that 8-10″ tart?