Apple Tart

I asked Papa Smurf if he wanted to bring a guest to Christmas dinner. Since I hadn't heard from him, I planned on using a two-serving rum cake I had in the pantry. He didn't invite someone until two days before, and I was not about to go grocery shopping on Christmas Eve. So, it was time to scrounge around for ideas.

Being me, I have a lot of apples on hand, so I decided to make mini apple tarts. The recipe I'm posting is for the full 11" tart, but I'm guessing the same amount of dough and filling would make about 8 single-serving tarts. My tart tins were 10cm (about 4").

You'll notice there are no spices in this recipe, just enough sugar to make it a dessert. Tarts exist to show off the fruit. You don't want to overdo the seasonings.

1 batch of Pastry Crust

2 lbs of apples (Golden Delicious, Roma, or Gala are probably best)

1 Tb lemon juice

1/4 C sugar

1/4 C brown sugar

2 Tb flour

1/2 C apricot jelly (or other clear, neutral jelly like lemon or apple)

1. Fill large bowl with cold water and add lemon juice. Peel apples if desired. Core apples, halve them, and slice into 1/8" thick slices. Appearance matters in this case. The slices need to be pretty. Place slices in water so they don't brown. Preheat oven to 400º.

2. Combine sugars and flour. Into prepared, unbaked pastry crust, sprinkle half of sugar mixture. Drain apple slices and arrange in overlapping swirl pattern in the crust. It should mound up slightly above the level of the pan, but not as high as for an apple pie. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake 45 minutes (30 for minis), until apples are cooked and crust is browned. Remove to a rack to cool, but leave in the tart pan.

3. Melt jelly and brush top of tart. Let cool. Remove pan sides and serve.

Serves 8 to 10

Difficulty rating :-0