French Apple Tart

This is a gorgeous tart.  And if something can taste gorgeous as well, this tart does.  The recipe reads something similar to an open faced apple pie, starting with pastry dough as a base and blind baking it in the pan.  But then it starts to deviate, with roasting the apples and creating the filling separately.  As I learned with Blueberry- Nectarine Pie, this step is often utilized by pie makers as well, in order to properly adjust the filling for flavor and set prior to baking the pie.  Then the crust and filling are topped with thinly sliced apples brushed with butter and sprinkled with sugar.

It all sounds so simple when I write it out like that, but in reality this creation took me three days to make.  Day 1, I made the dough.  Day 2, I made the filling.  Day 3, I did the blind baking and assembling of the tart.  This three day spread actually made this tart enjoyable and exciting to make.  Had I made it in one day, I think I would have been overwhelmed by all the steps, albeit simple steps.

A few deviations of note: I used whatever apples I had in the fridge (Gala? and Fuji?) and they were old and battered.  The recipe calls for Granny Smiths which I used for the top only.  This worked out fine, probably a bit sweeter.  I also used whole wheat bread crumbs for the "fresh, fluffy breadcrumbs".  No harm there either.   And alas, I am a week late for the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group.  I'll get on target soon, maybe next week with foccacia...


Making the filling:

my random apples

apples with sugar and cinnamon

roasting the apples

WW breadcrumbs

mashing the baked apples

the filling

Prepping the crust:

making the "ledge"

trimming

the french touch

bean pie weights

blind baked

Putting it all together:

filled

1st layer

2nd layer and rosette

And Rhiannon...