Fabulous French Apple Tarts

Well hello my little foodies!

It has been a long time and to tell you the truth, I haven't been cooking. I know, I'm bad.

I am super excited to share this easy dessert recipe with you all. And when I say easy, mean easy.

Now, I know what you must be thinking. "French? Easy? No way!" This simple tart with change your mind of thisd usually frou-frou cuisine for good. I know easy is usually not my style. I'm usually a Mario Batalli wannabe in the kitchen and am willing to go through those 20 steps. But not with this. I think you'll be pleased at how easy and straight forward this is.

Now, another thing that I'm not usually comfortable admitting is that I am a naughty baker. I don't do exact measurements, I don't follow the instructions to a tee, and I like to throw things in and change tempertatures. I would not reccomend this if you're not experienced in the kitchen.

Here's what I'll do, I will write the recipe I used in black ink, then write my corrections in red. Then, you can use your judgement.

French Apple Tart by Ina Garten

For the pastry :

2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon sugar 12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced 1/2 cup ice water

I followed this exactly!

For the filling :

4 Granny Smith apples 1/2 cup sugar 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced 1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam 2 tablespoons Calvados, rum, or water

Now, with 4 apples chopped, I made two cookie sheet sized tarts.

I did not use jelly or jam, and I just sprinkled 2 T water on top.

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

The food processor works great for this, truely. However, I did not let the dough rest, I know...naughty.

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

I did not roll this either. I have and it works fine, but I just used my hand and smoothed it over the parchment. And, you guessed it, I didn't refridgerate it either.

Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baler. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. (I tend not to use the apple ends in order to make the arrangement beautiful.) Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.

I didn't peel the apples, nor did I follow the instructions for dividing the apple, but these are simple to follow. I did cut them very thin. Like I said earlier, I made two cookie sheet sized tarts out of the dough and the apples for this single recipe.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. 45 min worked better in my oven, but mine gets very hot. I put the water on before the tart went into the oven to keep them from drying out. I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top just before serving.

I love how rustic it looks when it's finished. Bon appetite!