Apple Tart with Custard
Soft apple slices in an apricot and cider glaze covered with smooth vanilla custard and encased in a sweet flaky pastry.
Servings: 8 slices
Calories:
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Alter quantities (metric only) 8 slices
Here's what you'll need...
- Food processor optional as pastry can be made by hand
- Small saucepan and a large saucepan
- balloon whisk or small whisk
- Heat proof large bowl
- Baking beans or uncooked rice
Ingredients you'll need...
Note - see blog post for SUBSTITUTE SUGGESTIONS if you do not have all of the ingredients listed below.
Sweet Pastry Tart Case
- 250 g Plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 50 g Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) - sifted if lumpy
- ¼ teaspoon Fine salt must be level
- 100 g Unsalted butter - cold cold, straight from the fridge - cut into 1cm cubes (you will also need a bit more for greasing the tin)
- 25 g Lard cold, straight from the fridge - cut into 1cm cubes
- 1 Large egg cold
Apricot and Cider Glaze
- 180 g Apricot jam
- 60 ml Dry cider or apple juice
Apple Tart Filling
- 4-5 Braeburn apples peeled and cored they should weight about 500 grams
- 25 g Cornflour (corn starch)
- 3 Egg yolks
- 40 g Caster surgar (super fine sugar)
- 200 g Full fat milk
- 200 g Double cream
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla bean paste
- ¼ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- 1½ tablespoon Demerara sugar
Here's what we do...
Sweet Pastry Tart Case
- Grease your pie tin with a little extra butter. Make sure you get right into the fluted sides.
- If your Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) is a bit lumpy then sift it first. Mix your flour, icing sugar and fine salt together in a large mixing bowl, then tip into your food processor bowl with the large blade fitted.
- Add your very cold, cubed butter and lard and pulse the processor until the mixture becomes sand like. Keep removing the bowl and giving it a shake to ensure all of the dry mixture at the base is incorporated.If not using a food processor rub the fat into the flour using your fingertips.
- Next, add your egg and pulse again until the mixture starts to form large soft clumps. Don't wait until all of the dry flour in the base has been mixed in, as long as most of it is in clumps that is fine as it is important not to over mix. If mixing by hand use a fork to mix the egg in. If the mixture does not press together into clumps then add a teaspoon of very cold water. The pastry dough should be soft and easily stick together, it should not be sticky. If it is sticky add in a little more flour.
- Tip the mixture out onto your clean work surface and pull together into a ball making sure not to knead it.
- Flatten to a depth of about 1 inch, cover with cling film (plastic wrap) and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Lightly flour your works surface and then roll the pastry out into a circle with a diameter of 34cm. You will probably need to keep adding more flour underneath the pastry to be sure it does not stick.
- Drape the pastry over your rolling pin and the drape it over your greased pie dish.
- Gently push the pastry into the base of the tin first and then up and into the fluted sides. You want the pastry on the sides to be slightly thicker.
- Run your rolling pin over the tin to cut off the spare pastry and then very gently squeeze the pastry up so that it sits about 3-4mm above the edge of the tin to allow for shrinkage when it bakes. (This is why we want the pastry on the sides of the tin to be thicker).
- Use a fork to dot holes into the base, to prevent the pastry billowing up during baking and then refrigerate for another 20 minutes or pop in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile preheat your over to heat to 180°C Fan/200°C/Gas mark 5/390°F.
- Take strips of foil and gently lay them over the edges of the pastry tart pressing them down loosely to secure. This ensures the edges do not burn. Then take a large pie of foil and press it over the whole pie pushing it down gently to that it fits closely and covers all of the exposed pastry.
- Fill with baking beans or rice. You want to really weigh the pastry down, so 2 layers of baking beans are best. Make sure you cover all of the base thoroughly so that the edges do not puff up.
- Bake for 20 minutes and then remove the baking beans and large piece of foil but leave the pieces over the edges.
- Bake again for another 7-10 minutes until the pastry case is lightly golden all over.
- Reduce the temperature of your oven down to 160°C Fan/180°C/Gas mark 4/355°F and put your large baking tray in to heat.
Apricot and Cider Glaze
- Put your apricot jam and cider into your saucepan and heat on a medium setting until the jam melts.
- Bring to a fast boil and simmer for 2 minutes to thicken. If any scum forms on the top carefully remove it.
- Using a pastry brush spread a thin layer of the glaze over the base and sides of your baked pie case.
- Set aside 3 tablespoons of glaze to be used later but leave the rest in the saucepan.
Apple Tart Filling
- Place your caster sugar, egg yolks and cornflour into your large mixing bowl and beat together using a balloon whisk or normal whisk. After about 20-30 seconds the mixture should be a pale yellow colour. Set aside.
- Pour your milk and double (heavy) cream and vanilla bean paste into your large saucepan and heat on a medium setting, stirring all of the time, until it reaches just below boiling point. Once you start to see one or two bubbles on the top it is ready.
- Slowly tip the hot milk mixture into your egg mixture whisking all of the time.
- Then tip it all back into the large saucepan, return to the heat and bring to boiling point then remove from the heat and set aside.
- Peel and core your apples, one at at time so that they do not start to oxidise and cut into quarters. Slice into 5mm width slices.
- Use a little kitchen paper to try any moisture from the apple slices and roll them in the apricot and cider glaze you have in your saucepan.
- Take half of your coated apples slices and lay them over the base of the pastry pie, ensuring they cover it evenly and there are no gaps.
- Pour your custard over the apples and level it out.
- Take the rest of your apple slices and stand them, flat side down, in the custard in concentric circles. Try to place the largest ones at the edges.
- Sprinkle over your cinnamon and then your demerara sugar.
- Place the pie onto your heated baking sheet and bake in the centre of your oven for 30 minutes until golden on top.
- Leave the pie in the tin but put it on a cooling to cool for 10 minutes.
- Whilst it is still warm use your pastry brush to spread over the glaze which you set aside earlier
- Serve immediately with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Absolute bliss!