Cinnamon Apple Tart

This week I decided to make an apple tart. I love the taste of baked apples and as it is December and it's cold outside I added cinnamon for warmth. 

A few months ago I had a try at making filo pastry for a strudel. Unfortunately the filo was a slight disaster :) The filling for the strudel however was delicious. So the idea of adding raisins to my apple tart  came from my failed strudel. I think they add a little extra sweetness and chewiness to the dessert.

For the dough I followed a recipe from Michel Roux's Pasrty book. After failing at his filo recipe I feel with this one I was much more successful - it must be simply because it's an easier, more straight forward recipe :) However I did need to add a little more flour when kneading the dough as it felt too wet and sticky. 

Overall the tart ended up looking a little more rustic than elegant, but the taste was great!

Ingredients

Pastry:

125g plain flour

60g unsalted slightly soft butter, cut into small cubes

1 small egg

1/2 tsp caster sugar

1/4 tsp salt

20ml cold water

Filling:

4 apples, I used golden delicious but other cooking apples will work too

80 -100g raisins 

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp coconut oil  OR unsalted butter

40ml water

2 tbsp honey

40ml water 

To make pastry, heap the flour onto your work surface and make a well in the middle. Put butter, egg, sugar, and salt in the center of the well. Using you fingers mix all the ingredients except flour until creamy.

Start drawing in the flour little by little into the center and work the dough into a grainy texture. Then add the water and mix until the dough starts to hold together. At this point I had to add a little extra flour in order to form a dough I could knead. Using the palm of your hand push the dough away from you 5-6 times until smooth. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge until you are ready to use it. I used mine the following day.

The journey continues....

.....Take your dough and roll it out on a slightly floured surface until the thickness is about 3-4mm. Transfer it to your loose bottom tart tin and press it gently into the shape, taking care not to tear it. Leave the edges just slightly higher than the tin. Place in the fridge for about 30min. 

Wash, peel and core the apples. Cut in half and cut into slices about 4-5mm wide. Once all the apples are sliced, place one third of them in a small saucepan as they will be made into a puree-like mixture for the base of the filling. Place the rest of the apples in a another bowl and add the lemon juice, cinnamon, and gently mix. Cover and put aside. 

Add 40ml of water to the apples in the saucepan plus the coconut oil or butter and cook on a medium heat for 4-5min until the apples are very soft and can be worked into a puree-like creamy mixture, using a fork. When ready leave to cool. 

To make the glaze, simply add the honey to the water and simmer for 5min on low heat. Leave to cool.

Take your tart tin out of the fridge and spread the apple mixture evenly. Sprinkle the raisins and arrange the apple slices on top in way you wish. However you think looks pretty. At the center you can either add smaller pieces of apples (I personally ran out, because I only used three apples, oops) or add more raisins. 

Bake the tart in the oven for 40min on 200C/Gas Mark 6 until the pastry and apples look golden. Let it cool for 15min before removing it from the tin. Brush it with the sweet syrup and serve.

PS On my photographs you can see some red currants. I removed those from the ingredients list as they ended up too dry and slightly overpowering.

Enjoy!