Why It’s on the Menu
Thin apple slices fanned in tight circles over a buttery apple filling, glazed and kissed under the broiler until the edges start to caramelize. It looks like it came from a pâtisserie window, but the press-in crust means no rolling pin. This is America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe with more butter. It closes the night on something fruity and not too sweet. Serve it with Sauternes. The full plan is in the Wine Night post.
The Recipe: French Apple Tart
Serves 8 · 1 hour hands-on, about 4 hours total, including 1½ hours cooling
Equipment: a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, two rimmed baking sheets, a wire rack that fits inside one of them, and a stand mixer or hand mixer for the whipped cream.
You’ll need:
Crust
189 grams (about 1⅓ cups) all-purpose flour
64 grams (about 5 tablespoons) sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling
10 Golden Delicious apples (about 8 ounces each, 5 pounds total), peeled and cored
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
½ cup apricot preserves
¼ teaspoon table salt
Whipped cream
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Do this:
Start about 4 hours (or more) before you plan to serve
Set one oven rack in the lowest position and a second rack 5 to 6 inches below the broiler. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet.
Spray a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan with cooking spray. Set the tart pan on the wire rack.
Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir until a dough forms.
Press about half the dough over the bottom of the tart pan, then press the rest up the fluted sides. Smooth it with your hands to an even thickness. Use any extra dough to fill thin spots on the bottom.
Bake on the lowest rack until the crust is deep golden brown and firm to the touch, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Start checking after 25 minutes, but don’t pull it early; the color is where the flavor is. Set aside to cool.
Cut 5 of the apples lengthwise into quarters, then cut each quarter lengthwise into 4 thin slices. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the apple slices and 1 tablespoon of water, and toss to coat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the slices turn slightly translucent and bend easily, 5 to 8 minutes. Spread them in a single layer on a second baking sheet to cool.
While the apples cook, microwave the preserves until runny, about 1½ minutes, heating in 30-second bursts and checking after each. Strain them through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl, saving the solids. Set aside 3 tablespoons of the strained preserves for glazing.
Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Cut the remaining 5 apples into ½-inch chunks. Add these, the rest of the strained preserves, the reserved solids, and the salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are very soft, about 10 minutes.
Mash the apples into a paste with a potato masher. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until it reduces and thickens slightly, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Spread the apple paste in the baked crust. Smooth the top, keeping it off the crust edge.
Starting at the outer edge, arrange the slices in overlapping concentric circles until you reach the center.
Bake the tart, still on the wire rack in the baking sheet, on the lowest rack for another 30 minutes. Remove the tart and heat the broiler on high.
Microwave the reserved 3 tablespoons of preserves until liquid, about 30 seconds. Brush the glaze evenly over the apples, avoiding the crust.
Broil the tart on the upper rack for 3 to 5 minutes, rotating the pan every minute and checking the color. You want the edges of the apples to caramelize but you don’t want the crust to burn. Pull it out if the crust starts to get too dark. Check frequently toward the end. Let the tart cool for at least 1½ hours.
Remove the outer ring of the tart pan. Slide a metal spatula between the tart and the pan bottom, and carefully slide the tart onto a serving platter.
For the whipped cream, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes.
Cut into wedges and serve with a spoonful of whipped cream.
Printable recipe card below.
Notes
Timing: Make this the day you serve it. The 1½-hour cool is a minimum, not a deadline, so bake it whenever it fits your day and let it rest on the counter where everyone can admire it!
Weigh, don’t scoop: If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the flour and sugar using grams. A cup of flour can weigh noticeably more when scooped than when spooned, and baking is less forgiving than cooking. If you’re measuring by volume, spoon the flour into the cup and level it off with a knife.
Keep the crust clean: Keep the paste and the glaze off the crust, or the outer ring of the pan won’t release cleanly.
Peach instead of apricot: While apricot preserves are more traditional, I had an open jar of peach, so that’s what I used. Either works; peach gives a softer, rounder fruit note with the apples, and it picks up the candied peach in the Sauternes.
Host the night. Pour the world.