Apple Tart

Apples are everywhere right now--the Farmer's Market has apples at every turn. This quick Apple Tart is easy to make and would be a great dinner party dessert. In researching Apple Tart recipes I came across Ina Garten's version. I used her butter crust which actually turns out to be a lot like a shortbread cookie--very rich and buttery. It's really quick to make in the food processor, easy to roll out and looks really fancy if you use a fancy cutter on the edges.After I had made the crust I noticed that she says she uses frozen puff pastry when she is in a hurry--go figure! I thought the recipe was really easy BUT it isn't anything like puff pastry and I think the dessert would be totally different. I'll try it with the puff pastry dough next time.

To make her pastry from scratch, you just throw the ingredients into the processor, roll it out, cut the edges, then refrigerate it while you cut up the apples. So easy, why would you ever use readymade crust?

Tart Crust a la Ina Garten

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

12 tablespoons butter, cold

1/2 cup ice water

Place flour, salt and sugar in food processor and pulse until crumbly. Add butter and pulse until crumbly again. Add ice water and pulse until dough just comes together. Empty processor bowl onto floured board and knead slightly into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. Roll out with rolling pin until it reaches approximately 11x14 (size of full cookie sheet), trim with fluted pastry cutter or pizza cutter so that it is a rectangle shape. Dough will be about 1/4" thick. Stick it back in frig until apples are ready.

Apple Tart

1 tart pastry crust recipe or frozen puff pastry thawed

4-6 apples (more or less depending on size)- use a crisp, tart apple

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup liquer of some kind (Calvados, Triple Sec, ?)

1/2 cup jam of your choice-peach,orange
a little butter

Preheat oven to 400. Roll out the pastry to approximately 11x14 (or size that will fit on your cookie sheet). Place on parchment sheet on cookie sheet. Refrigerate until apples are prepared. Peel and core apples and slice into 1/4" slices. Overlap apple slices on crust on the diagonal until pastry is cover completely. Sprinkle with sugar, dot with a little butter and bake for 45 minutes on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper until apples and crust are brown. Mix jam and liquer together and micro until warm, then stir. Use pastry brush to brush jam mixture over apples after removing from oven, To serve, use a pizza cutter to cut into squares and top with whipped cream. Yummy. This freezes well, cut into squares and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Open tin foil wrapper to reheat in oven.

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It's all about The Crust

My sister and I have been using the same crust recipe for many years and whether sweet or savory when you are talkin pie you are talkin crust. So folks, crust isn't easy to make and this crust is very "short" in the making. You work to keep it together to get it in the pie plate but it is sooooooooo worth it. It is flakey like you wouldn't believe. Don't those fresh peaches or that coconut cream deserve a hand made crust?

As a side note, this recipe is from a book called, "American Cooking" which is part of the Time Life "Foods of the World" series, circa 1968. This was a series you subscribed to and once a month you got a cook book in the mail. My sis and I both had the series and you can still find these wonderful books at Used Book Stores and at the Flea. ..MaryEtta I just found a copy on eBay for $2! Annie

Basic Crust for a 2-Crust Pie

2 1/4 C flour

8 T Crisco

4T cold butter

1/2 t salt

6 to 8 T ice water

1. In a large bowl mix flour and salt, cut shortening and butter in cubes and cut into flour with a pastry cutter until the mixture has evenly distributed lumps the size of peas.

2. Add your ice water up to 6 tablespoons and see if the mixute will hold together. Now is when you can add another spoon or 2 if needed.

3. Turn half the dough out on heavily floured counter or board and knead only twice. That's right, only twice! You just wanted to get it in a clump to begin rolling.

4. Use a heavily floured pin, roll in a circle slightly larger then your pie plate.

5. Add your filling, then repeat process for your top crust.

6. Don't forget to crimp the edges and cut a couple of slots in the top if you don't have a "pie bird" to allow steam to escape.

[Note: Have your filling ready and your pie plate handy so you can work quickly, otherwise your dough will dry out and you will be in trouble.]

7. Baking-It depends on what kind of pie you are making as to the temp and time of baking. If you are baking a single crust pie to fill after baking, be sure to prick the crust several times on the bottom and use pie weights so your crust won't puff up during baking. Bake the crust 15- 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until slightly brown. I remove my weights the last 5 minutes so the bottom gets nice and flakey. For a two crust pie bake 40 minutes at 400 degrees or until nice and brown.

Don't be discouraged if you have problems the first few times, it's like learning to ride a bike, one day you just get it and then you get for the rest of your life!