Explore Leiths Diploma Open House – 5th June 2024

 

Honey & Co Traditional Apple Tart

Ingredients

To make a 24cm tart

For the sweet pastry
200g butter at room temperature, cubed
100g icing sugar
1 egg
Zest of 1 lemon
300g strong flour
1/2 tsp salt

For the filling
80g sugar
Lemon- juice and 4 strips of skin
1/2 vanilla pod, slit in half
1kg Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
130g sugar

For the topping
2-3 red apples
A few tiny knobs of butter
2tbs sugar

Instructions

For the pastry

  1. Mix all the pastry ingredients together using a paddle attachment of a food processor until they comes together to form a ball. Remove, divide into two (each about 320g), flatten a little and wrap in cling film. If you want to make just one tart, freeze one of the circles for future use. Let the pastry you’re using rest in the fridge for about an hour.
  2. Heat oven to 180c with fan assist. Roll the pastry into a large, thin circle, just a big bigger than your pie tin. As you go, dust the surface with a little flour, but not too much as it will make the pastry tough. Gently place the pastry in the tin, pushing it into the sides. Cover with a sheet of baking paper, weighed down with any pulses you have lying around. Blind bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and carefully remove the baking beans (or chickpeas in our case).

 

For the filling

  1. To make the filling, heat the butter in a large frying pan or wok and add the lemon strips, the split vanilla pod and all the apple slices. Keep the heat high and toss every 2-3 minutes until the apple slices start to soften. It will take about 10-12 minutes. Add the sugar and lemon juice. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir well every couple of minutes, until the apples break up and resemble a rough, chunky purée. Remove the vanilla but leave the lemon strips in. Take off the heat and add the filling to the base – it should reach the top of the pastry.
  2. Cut the red apples in half, keeping the skin on. Remove the cores with a small melon spoon or knife. Slice the apples as thinly as you can. Line the tart with the slices of apple in concentric circles until you have a rose pattern. Make sure to overlap the slices over the edge of the pie first, and then over each other, as they will shrink when baking. Top with the knobs of butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden at the edges.
  3. Cool completely in the tin before removing.

Honey & Co: Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich. Image credits to @patricianiven.