Classic French Apple Tart

Sometimes, all you need are good ol' classics.

Classic French Apple Tart

I made an apple tart a few months back. And boy was it super delicious. Bonus - It looked really gorgeous too. And believe it or not, it's actually pretty easy to whip up this pretty lil thing.

It has all ticks for all its components. A perfect crunchy tart crust. A really apple-y applesauce filling (yes, my vocab is limited as you can tell). More apples laid out (yes, one piece by one piece, a perfect activity for OCDs) atop it for aesthetics (hey, we eat with our eyes first!).

I loved that the tart didn't contain too much sugar, and that the sweetness came from the apples instead. The natural sweetness of the apples were really the star of this tart and the apple flavour shined through with the fantastic roasted baked applesauce filling I had whipped up. You can't get any more apple-y than this I reckon.

Roasted baked applesauce

I've made this roasted baked applesauce recipe countless of times whenever I need applesauce in any recipe. And I tend to use different varieties of apples each time. Use your favourite apples, whatever that is in season, or what you you enjoy eating on a normal basis. I usually stick with Pink Lady, Royal Gala or Fuji apples.

Serve with vanilla bean custard...

or French apple pie tart ala mode

I had some leftover homemade vanilla bean custard that I had made for some cream puffs and stored in the fridge cos you know, why waste perfectly good custard right? So hello, custard, meet apple tart. 

Or you could pair it with some icecream too. There was Haagen Daaz rum and raisin icecream in the house (it's the Dad's fave, so we tend to stock it during the hotter months of the year). So why the hell not? I can't decide which way I liked it better. Heck. It tastes great with custard, with icecream (I recommend either vanilla or rum and raisin), or even just plain as it is. You can't go wrong with the good ol' classics. Enjoy it whichever way you want it.

I so heart making gifs.

French Apple Tart
1 heaping cup of roasted applesauce (recipe below)
2-3 Royal gala apples, skinned, sliced thinly (I used 2)
apricot glaze (optional)

Sweet tart crust
(Use your favourite recipe, I actually forgot which recipe I used here *wails*, thus no recipe for the tart crust)
Line the prepared chilled dough into a 8" fluted tart tin with a removable bottom. Prick with fork and return to fridge to chill for at least a few hours.
Preheat oven at 175C. Line chilled tart with foil, place pie weights on top, bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove pie weights and foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes till lightly browned.
Remove from oven, cool for 15 minutes. Leave the oven on.
Fill the pre-baked crust with roasted applesauce (I used about a heaping cup full).
Gently start layering the apple slices on top of the applesauce, starting from the outer parameter of the tart. Layer it in rounds, towards the center. For a better picture of how to assemble the tart, I found a video that shows the assembling steps quite well. Click > here.
Bake the tart for another 15-20 minutes, or till apples are softened. Remove from oven to cool on a cooling rack.
Brush the tart with some apricot glaze (optional).
Serve warm with some vanilla bean custard, or ala mode, with a scoop of icecream.

Roasted applesauce
(makes about 2.5 cups)
5 Fuji apples, halved and cored
pinch of cinnamon powder
pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp sugar (optional)

Preheat over to 200C.
Line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
Place the cut apples cut side up on the foil, cover with another layer of foil.
Bake in oven for 45 min to 1 hour (or till apples are soft). I normally baked it slightly longer till the apples are not only soft, but slightly browned and caramelised in the skins.
Remove from oven.
While the apples are still hot, scrape the apples out of the skins with a spoon onto the foil. Discard apple skins. (But then again, if you don't want to waste it, you could do as I do and just eat it all up cos it was so yummy with all that caramelisation)
Add cinnamon and salt to the apple mixture and mash together with a fork till a paste forms. Taste to see if you need to add the sugar. If the apples are sweet enough, you can choose to omit it.