Ina Garten’s Classic French Apple Tart

Glistening layers of apple slices are the star in this french apple tart

You can really impress with this tart.  All it takes is a pastry crust with the best dough recipe I’ve ever used, sliced apples, and a fruit glaze with store bought jam.  Three steps to create an elegant end to a meal.

I still can’t get over how easy it was to work with this dough.  I did  use my food processor but even by hand, it should come together really nicely.  The recipe says 1/2 cup of water but with the dry weather that day, I used about 1/4 cup.  It was so easy to roll out.  No cracking or sticking to the board.

Preparing the apples was probably the most tedious step for me.  Peeling, coring, and cutting to about 1/4″ thick.  I used small Granny Smiths so I had to do more work.  Definitely use large apples to save yourself some time.

I was hoping to create a rose design but it was harder to do with the thicker slices.  I couldn’t curve the apples as much as I would have liked.  In some images of the rose, the apples look closer to 1/8″ but I was afraid they would dry out.  I may still try it next time.

A generous dusting of granulated sugar and dotted with cubes of butter. It may seem odd to not have a filling under the apples but when the tart bakes, the sugar, butter, and apples create a sugary liquid base.

Just before serving, I melted apricot jam and rum and created a glaze to brush on top of the fruit.

Nothing better than a warm apple tart and cold vanilla bean ice cream.

Ina’s French Apple Tart

By Ina Garten

My recipe notes:

• In the recipe Ina made a a 10 x 14″ rectangle, whereas I made mine in a 10″ circular tart pan.  I think the advantage of the pan is that it keeps all the liquid in.  From the recipe reviews it looks like extra steps were taken for cleaning up the liquid that seeped out.
• I rolled out the tart dough into a 12″ circle to lay into the tin.  At this size, the crust is about 1/4″ thick.  It was a good thickness because it when the liquid is absorbed the upper part of the crust is moist but the bottom of the crust is still crunchy.
• I used 7 small apples instead of 4 large ones.  I probably could have used 2-3 more apples to fill into the tart.  The apples shrank a lot more than I had expected.
• With the 7 small apples, I used the full 1/2 cup sugar and the tart was the right amount of sweetness.  I couldn’t taste any tartness from the apples.