Apple Custard Rose Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Add butter and egg; mix with a fork until crumbly. Work dough with your hands until fully blended. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll dough out to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Place crust in the pie plate and prick with a fork.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.
• Meanwhile, place sliced apples, sugar, butter, water, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves in a large pot; cook over medium heat until apples start to release their juices and are just malleable enough to curve while still holding their shape, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove apple slices to a plate, reserving cooking juices in the pot.
• Add diced apples to the cooking juices and bring to a boil. Cook until apples are mushy, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Transfer mushy apples to a medium saucepan. Place walnuts in the bowl of a food processor; process until finely ground. Add nuts to the apples; stir until a paste forms. Add cream; bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
• Whisk egg thoroughly in a small glass bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the hot cream mixture, whisking vigorously to make sure the egg doesn't curdle. Repeat twice more. Pour egg mixture into the saucepan; mix to incorporate. Allow custard to cool, stirring often.
• Spread cooled custard evenly over the crust. Arrange apple slices on top, working from the outer edge to the center in concentric circles, overlapping the slices to look like a rose.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 50 minutes.

Steps:

• Make the crust: Combine the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the butter pieces on top, and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract, and pulse until incorporated. Pulse in the water, about 2 teaspoons at a time, until the dough starts to hold together. It will appear to be a bit crumbly, but should hold together easily when pressed.
• Lightly butter a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, and pour the dough mixture into it. Press the mixture evenly on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (Use a lightly floured straight-sided measuring cup to help press the dough into the corners of the pan.) Reserve extra dough to repair any cracks after the shell is baked.
• Freeze the formed dough in the pan until completely firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Line the tart shell with a piece of aluminum foil, making sure to tuck it into the corners and over the edges. Bake the shell for 20 to 25 minutes or until the dough appears dry and lightly golden. If the dough puffs up while baking, gently press it back into the pan with an offset spatula or similar tool. If necessary, repair any cracks with the remaining raw dough. Cool slightly while you prepare the apples.
• Cut the apples from their cores in 3 pieces: Stand the apples up, with the stems facing up, and, using a sharp knife, cut 1 face of the apple, then rotate the apple about 120 degrees, slice again, and finally slice the last piece from the core. You should have a triangle-shaped piece of core left and 3 pieces of apple with flat bottoms.
• Reserve a smaller piece of apple, and carefully slice all the other apples into very thin half-moons, about 1/8-inch thick. (A mandoline makes this move quickly, but, if you are using a knife and working slowly, it's a good idea to squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over the sliced apples to prevent browning.) Make sure to keep the slices together as you cut to make the assembly easier.
• Once the apples are sliced, build the tart: Sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon sugar on the bottom of the blind-baked tart shell. Starting at the outer edge, arrange the apples in tight concentric circles, overlapping each slice about halfway over its neighbor. Take care to stand the apples up vertically, with the cut edges down and the peel edge pointing up. Pack the rows very tightly, stopping periodically to check your work.
• As you move toward the center, the apples will become trickier to bend into place. If you find the slices are breaking, slice the reserved piece of apple even thinner to make it easier to bend. Roll the last few slices into a circle and tuck it in the center.
• Sprinkle the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and a pinch of salt over the apple slices. Take care to sprinkle the sugar between the apple slices, rather than on top. Scatter the butter pieces on top, and bake the tart for 40 to 45 minutes or until the apples begin to brown just slightly on the edges and the crust is a deep golden brown. Check the tart periodically to make sure the shell is not over-browning at the edges. If it is, cover the edges with foil.
• Cool the tart on a rack for about 10 minutes, then prepare the glaze: In a small saucepan, warm the jam and a few drops of water over medium-low heat until it is runny. Use a pastry brush to very gently brush the warm tart with jam. Avoid brushing jam on the crust, but a thin layer all over the apple slices. Serve warm or room temperature.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 6. Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface until just thicker than a £1 coin. Use to line a 23cm deep tart tin, allowing the spare pastry to hang over the edges. Line the tart with greaseproof paper and baking beans, then bake for 15 min until golden around the edges. Remove the beans and continue to cook for 5 mins until the base in golden brown. Remove the tart from the oven and leave to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/ fan 14C/gas 3.
• Meanwhile, tip the sugar into a large frying pan over a high heat. Cook the sugar until it dissolves, bubbles and caramelises. Carefully tip the apple wedges into the caramel and toss until coated. Splash in the brandy, if using, then cook the apples for 2-3 mins until just starting soften and the caramel has dissolved in the apple juices.
• Turn off the heat and remove the apples to a bowl. Pour the cream into the pan then, holding a sieve over the pan, strain in any juices from the apples. Gradually whisk the caramel sauce into the beaten yolks. Arrange the apples over the base of the tart, pour over the custard, then bake for 40 mins until the custard is just set. Leave the tart to cool, then use a knife to cut away the spare pastry and neaten the edges.

Steps:

• Rub the butter and flour together in a large bowl using your fingertips. Work through the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, egg yolk (reserve the white), vanilla extract and 2-3 tsp cold water to form a ball of dough that leaves the bowl clean. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, put the apple slices in a large bowl. squeeze over the lemon juice and cover with water. Microwave on High for 4 mins, then drain and pat dry on some kitchen paper. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.
• Roll out the pastry to fit the tin and trim the edges with scissors so they stand up, about 5mm above the edge. Prick the surface of the pastry a few times with a fork. Place a layer of foil on top, add some baking beans and blind-bake for 15 mins. Remove the beans and foil, brush the pastry with the reserved egg white and return to the oven for 10-15 mins until biscuity.
• Roll out 75g more of the marzipan out on a surface dusted with a little icing sugar until it's approx 20 x 15cm. Cut into three rectangles and lay eight apple slices down the long edge of each strip of marzipan (see step-by-step guide) and reserve the rest. Fold the bare edge of each strip over to cover the apples, then roll up from the short edge (see step-by-step guide). Place the apple roses in eggcups or a muffin tin so that they hold their shape. Roll the remaining marzipan into small balls.
• Mix the butter, sugar, eggs, almonds, flour and milk together in a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Take the tart case out of the oven and spread with the filling. Gently press your apple-marzipan roses into the filling, evenly spaced out, then scatter over the balls of marzipan. Fill the gaps with the remaining apple slices so that the filling is covered, curving the slices a little as you go to create additional petals on the roses, or rolling them up tightly to look like rosebuds, all with the peel-side facing upwards.
• Return to the oven for 30-35 mins, then leave the tart to cool in the tin for 10 mins. Meanwhile, heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan until simmering, then pass it through a metal sieve into a bowl. Brush it over the surface of the tart while both the jam and the tart are still warm. Serve the tart a little warm, or leave to cool, then turn it out onto a serving plate and dust with icing sugar.