German Apple Tart Apfel Tarte Recipes

VERSUNKEN APFELKUCHEN (GERMAN APPLE CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350F.
• Toss the apple slices and lemon juice together and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar using an electric hand mixer, until pale and smooth. Add eggs and beat until fluffy.
• Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well incorporated.
• Slowly add the milk, mixing as you add, until the batter is smooth. (Your batter should be thick but pour-able.)
• Pour the batter into a greased 10" spring form pan*.
• Nestle the apple slices into the batter, pushing them into the batter lightly.
• Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake (not into an apple) comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and remove the spring form edge. Let the cake continue to cool on a wire rack.
• Dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar immediately before serving.

GERMAN APPLE CAKE (WIENER APFELKUCHEN)

Steps:

• Gather the crust ingredients.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
• Cut in cold butter for pie dough until small crumbs form.
• Use 4 to 6 tablespoons of the egg-water mixture to moisten the crumbs. Stir just until the mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Gather the batter ingredients.
• Cut each quarter apple into 3 long pieces, then cut crosswise into small trapezoids. Sprinkle with lemon juice, toss and set aside.
• Beat together softened butter with sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and lemon zest.
• Whisk together flour with baking powder (and a dash of salt if using unsalted butter) in a separate small bowl. Add to creamed butter mixture alternately with whipping cream and beat until smooth. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 11-inch springform pan and sprinkle with breadcrumbs or flour, shaking out excess.
• Roll out the crust and line the pan, piecing crust as necessary to form a 1- to 1 1/2-inch lip.
• Place drained apple slices in the crust.
• Spoon cake batter over apple slices as if setting dumpling batter on a stew, then smooth over apples to edges.
• Sprinkle 2 tablespoons almond slices then 4 tablespoons granulated sugar evenly over batter.
• Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, then turn off the oven and leave the cake for another 15 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and filling should be moist but set.
• Allow cake to cool completely in the pan for best taste. Serve with whipped cream . Refrigerate any leftovers.

GERMAN APPLE PIE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in the shortening until crumbly. Add vanilla. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Roll out pastry to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of pie plate; flute edges., For filling, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle 3 tablespoons into crust. Layer with half of the apples; sprinkle with half of the remaining sugar mixture. Repeat layers. Pour cream over all. , Bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° bake for 55-60 minutes or until apples are tender. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

SWISS APPLE TART -- APFELWäHE

Steps:

• Sift the flour and sugar together into a large mixing bowl. Coat the butter with flour from the bowl to make it easier to handle, and grate it directly onto the flour, using the coarse blade of a cheese grater. As you grate the butter, mix the flakes together with the flour occasionally, using your fingertips, before grating more.
• Add the sugar and lemon rind. Using two round-bladed knives, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
• Mix the egg lightly with a fork and pour over the flour mixture. Using the fork, mix the egg into the flour mixture until well distributed. Then, using your hand, pull the dough gently together into a ball. Knead lightly and briefly on a floured board until the dough forms a cohesive mass. Pat into a flat round and wrap tightly in Saran wrap / plastic wrap / clingflim. Refrigerate for at least an hour before using.
• Roll the dough out just thin enough to be about an inch and a half wider than the 10-12" tart pan, and either fold it in two for the move into the pan, or drape it over the rolling pin and move it that way. Carefully tuck the dough down so that it is flat both against the pan's bottom and the fluted sides. Press it gently against the fluting: then trim it off flat by rolling the rolling pin over the top edge. Prick the bottom of the crust-to-be with a fork.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Sprinkle the bottom of the pastry-lined pan/tin with the ground almonds. Combine the cinnamon, sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl.
• Peel, core and quarter the apples. Slice them very thin (you may want to use a mandoline-type vegetable slicer for this), toss them together with the cinnamon-sugar-zest mixture, and then arrange them in concentric circles on top of the ground almonds. Flake the butter on top.
• Mix the cornstarch well with about three tablespoonsful of the cream: then add this to the rest of the custard ingredients and mix well.
• Put the pastry in the oven and bake for fifteen minutes.
• When this time has elapsed, stir up the custard ingredients well one more time, then pour enough custard into the pastry to fill it to the top.
• Close the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. (If the pastry was showing too much browning at the 15-minute stage, you might want to decrease the heat just a little.)
• At the end of the 30 minutes, wiggle the pan a little to make sure that the custard's set. If it is, remove and allow to cool on a rack. If it isn't, give it another five or ten minutes, but no more. The custard usually puffs up while baking: when it collapses after you remove it from the oven, don't worry -- it's supposed to do that.
• The apfelwähe can be served hot, warm, or cold. Add whatever sides you prefer with an apple dessert -- pouring cream, more custard, a sharp cheese.

GERMAN APPLE TART (APFEL TARTE)

Steps:

• Combine the ingredients for the dough until its smooth. Wrap in foil and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Peel, core, and cut the apples into quarters. With a sharp knife cut each quarter apple in its round side several times lengthwise. Don't cut the apple all the way through. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar, lemon juice and Calvados or apple cider. Pour over the apples and let them marinate for 1 hour.
• Roll 2/3-3/4 of the dough out into a 9 inch round. Set into a 9 inch springform pan. Use the rest of the dough to create a small edge along the inner walls of the form. Using a fork punch tiny holes into the bottom of the unbaked crust. Bake at 350° F for 10-12 minutes. Place the apples in a sieve or colander. Make sure to catch the escaping juice in a small bowl. Combine this juice with the Creme Fraiche and stir until smooth and consistent.
• Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the baked crust. Arrange the partially sliced apple quarters on the crust round side facing upwards. Pour the Creme Fraiche mixture over the apples. Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Garnish with chopped almonds or nuts if desired. Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream,sweet Creme Fraiche, or plain.
• Variations: substitute fresh peaches or pears. Instead of calvados or apple cider use peach or pear schnapps.