A Good Apple Tart
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Weigh a pound and a quarter of apples after paring and coring; add four ounces more for a moderate tart.
Lay a border of English puff-paste or cream-crust around the dish.
Dip the apples into water.
Arrange the apples compactly in the dish, higher in the centre than at the sides.
Strew 3 to 4 ounces of pounded sugar among the apples, or more if they are very acidic.
Add grated rind and strained juice of half a lemon to improve flavour.
Lay a thin rolled cover over the apples.
Ice it or not at pleasure.
Bake
Bake the tart in a moderate oven for about half an hour.
Bake the tart slowly until the fruit is tender throughout.
Finish as a creamed apple tart
To convert to a creamed apple tart, cut out the cover while it is still hot, leaving about an inch-wide border of paste around the edge, and pour ½ to ¾ pint of rich boiled custard over the apples when they have cooled.
Divide the cover into triangular snippets and stick them around the inside of the tart, or use ornamental leaves of pale puff-paste for a better effect.
Substitute well-drained whipped cream for the custard, pile it high, and lightly spread it over the fruit.
Alternative preparation
Take very young apples before cores form, clear buds and stalks, wash well.
Fill a tart dish with the apples after rolling them in plenty of sugar, or strew layers of sugar between them.
Add a very small quantity of water.
The result resembles a green apricot-tart if carefully made.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Apples (in the method)
- Form the bulk of the filling and supply the tart's fruit flavour and texture when baked.
- Pounded sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and draws out juices, balancing the tartness of the apples.
- Rich boiled custard
- Adds creamy richness and moisture when poured over the cooled apples in the creamed version.
The step that matters
Bake the tart slowly until the fruit is tender throughout. Apples need enough gentle heat to soften fully through their centre. Baking too fast can brown or set the pastry before the fruit cooks through.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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