Irish Apple Tart
What’s the craic? Haha, excuse my terrible attempt at sounding Irish. Even though my Irish lingo is yet to kick in, we’re venturing out to Ireland today for our recipe. This tart has been a part of my boyfriend’s fondest childhood memories so I thought I’d give it a crack.
P.S- The Irish call it a tart, but it’s actually a pie?! (Don’t ask me why)
P.P.S: This is by no means the authentic version. My boyfriend is terrible at describing food so I have taken a few creative liberties here. So if you’re a traditionalist, look away!
While this tart may not be as authentic as an Irish grandma’s recipe, it is 100% approved by my Irish boyfriend (& his mum!) so I guess that’s a thumbs up for me (yay!) I mean, in fairness, what’s not to love?
We’ve got a flakey pie crust, filled with a veryyy moreish almond cream, layered with buttery juicy apples and it all gets enclosed inside another flakey crust sprinkled with crunchy demerara sugar- YUMMMM! Slather some vanilla ice cream on top and you’re in heavennnn ~drooling'~
It’s extremely simple, nothing fancy, but tastes like a warm cosy hug from your favourite person <3
Like I said, this Apple Tart is extremely simple, with little effort involved and still tastes like a million bucks! And while you’re going to have no problem navigating the recipe, here are my best tips to make sure you hit the nail on the coffin:
To get the best, most flakey pie dough, make sure to freeze your butter. Cut your butter into cubes, as evenly as possible and stick that bad boy in the freezer until frozen. Keeping your butter as cold as possible is the secret behind a good pie dough.
You want the butter chunks. Unlike tart dough, you don’t want to mix your butter & flour to breadcrumb consistency. You want pea-sized chunks of butter visible in your pie dough. These butter chunks are what gives the pie its flakiness.
Rest your pie dough. Do not rush this, make sure your pie dough has rested in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, overnight is the best.
Extension of point 3, throughout the process of assembling your tart, if the pastry gets soft at any point, stop and stick it in the refrigerator immediately to allow it to rest. Keeping your pastry cold is critical for a flakey pie.
Use a mix of tart & sweet apples to get the best flavour. I’ve used Granny Smith & Pink Lady in this recipe.
Cut your apples evenly so that they cook evenly.
And you’re good to go! Your delicious Apple Tart awaits. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Jack has xx Happy baking!
Recipe
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the pie dough:
400g plain flour
280g unsalted butter, cubed & frozen
80g castor sugar
5g salt
147g ice cold water
For the almond frangipane:
60g unsalted butter, soft at room temp
40g castor sugar
1 large egg, at room temp
10g plain flour
60g almond meal
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
15g rum, optional
For the apples:
2 large Granny Smith apples
1 large Pink Lady apple
75g unsalted butter, melted
60g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Assembling the tart:
demerara sugar, for sprinkling on top
1 egg, for eggwash
Method
For the pie dough:
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix all the ingredients for the pie dough except cold water until pea sized chunks of butter remain. Alternatively, you can also do this by hand.
With the mixer still running, stream in the cold water and mix until the dough just comes together.
Transfer the dough to a clean work surface, using the palm of your hands, bring the dough together to form a rough ball. Flatten into a disc and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for minimum 2 hours or preferably overnight.
Cut the dough into half. Roll out both halves of the dough to 5mm thickness. Reserve one half of the dough in the refrigerator for the pie top.
Use the other half to line 2x 12cm fluted tart rings or 1x 24cm fluted tart ring. Freeze for 30 minutes. You can also prepare this in advance & store in the freezer for upto 1 month.
For the almond frangipane*:
Cream together the soft butter and sugar until combined.
Add the egg and mix until emulsified.
Add the flour and almond meal and mix until combined.
Lastly, add the vanilla extract & rum and mix until combined.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 9mm nozzle. Keep aside until ready to use.
For the apples:
Peel, core and dice the apples into 1 cm cubes. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Add the melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Keep aside.
Assembling the tarts:
Preheat oven to 180°C (fan-forced) or 200°C (deck oven).
Pipe a layer of almond frangipane at the bottom of the lined tart.
Fill with apples to the top of the tart.
For the pie top: From the pie dough reserved for the top, cut a circle slightly larger than the size of the tart shell and place over the apples. Push the edges together to seal the pie.
Eggwash the pie top. Use a sharp paring knife and score a pattern on top. Sprinkle a generous layer of demerara sugar on top. Bake for 30-45 mins or until golden brown. Allow to cool. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream**. Bon appetite!
Notes:
*- For en eggless frangipane recipe, check out my Strawberry Frangipane Tart recipe.
**- For my homemade vanilla ice cream recipe, watch the tutorial here.