Alice Waters' Apple Tart

I made a few grocery stops before we settled in for a long snow weekend. While Mark put the snow shovel to good use next door, I tried a Cook's Illustrated marinade (skip it), prepared a big pot of chili, and discovered apple bliss.

It seemed like the right time to try Alice Waters' Apple Tart since we are down to our last bag of Gold Rush apples. I found this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog last summer after my orchard visit. Deb's photographs and tips made the tart an ease to assemble. I followed her recommendation to scale back the sugar topping (3 tablespoons instead of 5 tablespoons) and then added a couple shakes of Penzey's cinnamon sugar.

We topped plated slices with homemade whipped cream before indulging in this delicious dessert. (And then hit the treadmill for an hour to help ease the guilt of leftovers the next day.) The simple ingredients combined to create an exceptional result; I would swoon over this tart in a restaurant.

Mark has asked that we ration our last four apples for another tart later this month when we celebrate his birthday. It may be a good thing we didn't discover this recipe when half our refrigerator was full of Gold Rush apples last August.

Alice Waters’s Apple Tart
Source: Smitten Kitchen

Dough:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water

Filling:
2 pounds apples* (Golden Delicious or another tart, firm variety), peeled, cored (save peels and cores), and sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 tablespoons sugar*

Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar

MIX flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Blend in a mixer until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining butter; mix until biggest pieces look like large peas.

DRIBBLE in water, stir, then dribble in more, until dough just holds together. Toss with hands, letting it fall through fingers, until it’s ropy with some dry patches. If dry patches predominate, add another tablespoon water. Keep tossing until you can roll dough into a ball. Flatten into a 4-inch-thick disk; refrigerate. After at least 30 minutes, remove; let soften so it’s malleable but still cold. Smooth cracks at edges. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Dust excess flour from both sides with a dry pastry brush.

PLACE dough in a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan*, or simply on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you wish to go free-form, or galette-style with it. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

OVERLAP apples on dough in a ring 2 inches from edge if going galette-style, or up to the sides if using the tart pan. Continue inward until you reach the center. Fold any dough hanging over pan back onto itself; crimp edges at 1-inch intervals.

BRUSH melted butter over apples and onto dough edge. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over dough edge and the other 3 tablespoons over apples.*

BAKE in center of oven until apples are soft, with browned edges, and crust has caramelized to a dark golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.

MAKE glaze: Put reserved peels and cores in a large saucepan, along with sugar. Pour in just enough water to cover; simmer for 25 minutes. Strain syrup through cheesecloth.

REMOVE tart from oven, and slide off parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 15 minutes.

BRUSH glaze over tart, slice, and serve.

* We used five or six Gold Rush apples. I used a pie pan since I don't have a tart pan. For the step with 5 tablespoons sugar, we followed Smitten Kitchen's recommendation to use a total of 3 tablespoons over top both the apples and the dough crust. We added a couple shakes of cinnamon sugar over top before baking.