Tarte Aux Pommes Moroccan Recipes

TARTE AUX POMMES

Steps:

• Crust: Place flour on a clean surface (preferably marble, granite, or wood). Make a well in the center. To the well, add salt, sugar, butter, and 1 tablespoon ice-cold water. With your fingertips, push the flour and butter together until large clumps form, adding more water if the mixture seems too dry to come together. When the mixture begins to look shaggy, begin pushing it forward with the heel of your hand. Continue pushing it together until the flour and butter are a single mass of dough. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour (or freeze up to 2 weeks).
• Parbake crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place a box grater into the glass pie dish. Grate half of the chilled (or frozen) dough on the wide holes of a box grater directly onto the bottom of the pie dish. Gently press the dough into the bottom of the dish; it should be ¼-inch thick. (Grate additional dough if it's too thin. Reserve remaining dough for another tart.) Lightly butter one side of a sheet of parchment paper and lay it onto the dough, buttered side down. Fill the pie dish with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove weights, beans, or rice and parchment paper, and continue baking uncovered until lightly brown, 10-15 minutes.
• Apple filling: Cut apples in half, core, and trim stem. Cut into very thin half-moon slices and place into a large mixing bowl.
• In the bowl, toss the apples with half of the melted butter and all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Pile the apples into the parbaked crust, then drizzle the remaining butter and sprinkle the rest of the sugar on top. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, 35-40 minutes.
• Remove the tarte from the oven and cool slightly, 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into pieces. Serve warm or room temperature.

TARTE AUX POMMES (FRENCH APPLE - CUSTARD TART)

Steps:

• For crust: Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface turning it constantly so that it does not stick; add more flour as needed (the dough might crack around the edges, most of the cracks don't matter since the edges will be trimmed after the tart is in the pan, if there are some big ones that will show when the tart is in the pan, patch them with pieces of dough before fitting the) when the dough is rolled out, flip it over the rolling pin and transfer it to a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom; fit it into the tart pan without stretching; roll the rolling pin over the top of the tart to cut off the dough hanging over the pan's edge; refrigerate 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F Place the tart pan on shallow baking sheet; fit the tart pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, fill with beans or pie weights, and bake in the middle of preheated oven for 15 minutes; carefully remove the foil with beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
• For filling: Turn the heat down to 375F; quarter, core, and peel the apples; cut into 1/4" lengthwise slices; toss them in a bowl with the sugar and cinnamon, then arrange them in the crust in concentric circles; bake in the upper third of preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until they start to color and are almost tender; remove from oven and let cool while preparing the custard.
• For custard: Beat the egg and sugar together in a mixing bowl until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back on itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon; beat in the flour, then the cream, and finally the cognac; pour the mixture over the apples; it should come almost to the top of the pastry shell; return to oven for 10 minutes, or until cream begins to puff.
• Sprinkle with icing sugar (placed in a sieve and sprinkled evenly over) and return to oven for 15 to 20 minutes more.
• Tart is done when top has browned and a knife plunged into the custard comes out clean; unmold the tart; cool 10 minutes and serve.

FRENCH APPLE TART (TARTE DE POMMES A LA NORMANDE)

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir together 1 1/3 cups of flour and salt. Add the butter, 1 egg yolk and water, and stir until the mixture forms large crumbs. If it is too dry to press a handful together, stir in more water. Press the dough into a ball, and wrap in plastic wrap. Flatten slightly, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until firm. This part can be done up to three days in advance.
• To make the frangipane, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar in a medium bowl until light and soft. Gradually mix in the egg and the remaining egg yolk one at a time. Stir in the apple brandy. Stir 2 tablespoons of flour into the ground almonds, then mix into the batter. Set aside.
• Roll the pastry dough out to about a 12 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Fold loosely into quarters, and center the point in a 10 inch tart or pie pan. Unfold dough, and press into the bottom and up the sides. Prick with a fork all over, and flute the edges. Return pastry to the refrigerator to chill until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place a baking sheet inside the oven while it preheats.
• Spoon the frangipane into the chilled pastry, and spread into an even layer. Arrange the apple slices in an overlapping spiral pattern. Each slice should have one edge pressed into the frangipane until it touches the pastry base, and then overlap the previous slice. Start at the outside edge, and work towards the center.
• Place the pie plate on top of the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling begins to brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for another 10 minutes, then sprinkle sugar over the top of the tart. Return to the oven for 10 more minutes, or until the sugar caramelizes slightly.
• Cool the tart on a wire rack. A short time before serving, warm the apricot jelly. Add some water if necessary to make it a liquid consistency. Brush onto the tart for a nice shine.

TARTE AUX POMMES - MOROCCAN

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 400° F
• 2. Spread the pastry cream across the bottom of the chilled, unbaked sweet pastry shell.
• 3. Mix the apple slices with the sugar and cinnamon. Arrange the slices in an overlapping pattern over the pastry cream. Dot the apples with tiny bits of butter.
• 4. 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.
• 5. While the tart is still warm, heat the apricot jam with the lemon juice until boiling. Use a pastry brush to apply the apricot glaze over the apples.
• 6. Refrigerate the tart when it has cooled completely. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
• 7. Pâté Sucrée Recipe - French Sweet Pastry Crust Prep Time: 15 minutes Chilling time: 2 hours Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes Yield: 2 tart crusts Ingredients: 3 cups (340 g) flour 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (220 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits 2 egg yolks ice water
• 8. Pâté Sucrée Recipe - French Sweet Pastry Crust (continued) Blend the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles a coarse meal with bits of butter no larger than peas. (Alternatively, you can process the mixture on pulse mode in a food processor.) Add the egg yolks, and continue blending with the pastry cutter (or on pulse mode in the processor) until the eggs are evenly incorporated and the mixture resembles a fine meal. Stir in the ice water with a fork, one tablespoons at a time, until the mixture is just moistened enough to gather and mold into a smooth ball. (Or, with the food processor running, add the water one tablespoon at a time just until the mixture forms a dough.) Divide the dough in half and flatten each portion into a smooth disc. Wrap with plastic, and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight if you prefer. The dough may also be frozen for up to two months. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge, and allow to rest at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough. Lift and turn the dough as you work, keeping the work surface dusted with flour to prevent sticking. Fit the dough into a tart pan and press it firmly against the sides and bottom without stretching it. Trim off any excess dough and then cover and chill the dough in the pan for at least 30 minutes before filling and baking. To prebake the empty tart shell, prick the dough all over with a fork, cover lightly with foil and bake at 375° F (190° C) for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue baking until barely colored for a partially baked shell, or golden brown for a fully baked shell.
• 9. Creme Patissiere (Pastry Cream) Recipe Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Ingredients: 2 cups milk 5 egg yolks 6 to 8 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons flour 3 tablespoons corn starch 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring) Preparation: In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the milk with the vanilla bean almost to boiling. While the milk is heating, mix the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl, then whisk in the flour and cornstarch until the mixture is smooth. Remove the vanilla bean from the milk, and gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan, and place over medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and reaches a boil. Continue cooking for half a minute longer, stirring hard and constantly to keep the pastry cream smooth. Remove the pastry cream from the heat. (Stir in the vanilla flavoring at this point if you did not use a vanilla bean). Place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to avoid a skin forming, and leave to cool. The pastry cream can be used when cool, or covered and refrigerated for up to several days until needed. Stir chilled pastry cream before using.