Alsatian Apple Tart

The second Tuesdays with Dorie recipe of the week was selected by Jessica of Cookbook Habit. She chose the Alsatian Apple Tart, which is an apple custard tart. I love baked apples so I was really looking forward to this recipe. You can get the complete recipe for the tart on Jessica’s blog. Don’t forget to visit the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see how the other baker’s interpreted this week’s recipes.

It seems like I go through phases with pies and tarts. I don’t make them for the longest time and then I make a bunch all together. After last week’s butternut squash pie, now we have an apple tart, plus there is another apple tart coming up the last week of November! I’m not always thrilled to make pie crust, as it can be very finicky. I was thrilled to see that this and the next apple tart use the press-in-the-pan sweet tart dough. I love this dough and I think it’s just about the best thing in the entire cookbook. I love that I don’t have to roll out pastry! I made the regular pastry instead of the nut version, but I’m sure that would be good, too.

I used Fuji apples in this tart, and they worked well. They had a bit of tartness and not too hard of texture. My apples seemed small (compared to giant ones I typically get in Washington State) but I ended up using less than a pound of them. I went all the way with the custard: full heavy cream and egg yolks, because it just didn’t seem right to skimp on dessert. Mine baked up beautifully and it smelled divine while in the oven. We’re big fans of custard in our house and this is certainly a custardy tart. I love the egginess of the custard with the baked apples. I didn’t glaze my tart; instead I just went with a simple dusting of powdered sugar. I really enjoyed this tart and I can’t wait to make the next one in a week or so!

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 314