The People's Kitchen: Apple Tart

All I can say is that this involves puff pastry and apples. Yum. It also requires about 5 minutes to put together not counting baking time or thawing. Yum. I originally saw a recipe for apple tarts in one of Ina's cookbooks (actually my friend Inna introduced me to it). Later I found a bunch more and I just combined them. Still working on making it perfect, but so far it's not all that bad. It's sooooo delicious.

Super Easy Quick Apple Tart

You will need:

*2 Puff Pastry Sheets (one box)

* 4 whole Apples

*¼ teaspoons Salt (if not using lemon)

*1 cup brown sugar

*1/3 stick unsalted butter (optional)

*1/2 (juice of) lemon

1. First we need to thaw the frozen puff pastry sheets. Start with just placing them on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes. (If not using parchment paper, spray the baking sheet with cooking spray after they have defrosted for about 20 minutes. This way the pastry won't get all soggy.)

2. In the meantime, core, halve and thinly slice about 2-4 apples depending on size. I used four and had a few leftovers (which my toddler devoured since they were soaked in brown sugar).

I recently spend $5 and bought an apple corer. It is so much easier.... I don't know why I hadn't done this a long time ago.

After coring the apples slice them in half.

4. Now thinly slice the apple halves. If you have a mandoline, I love my Borner, you can certainly use that. This way it's faster and the apple slices are all exactly the same size, which is always good for anyone who has a little OCD.

5. After you have sliced all the apples, slice a lemon in half.....

..........and squeeze out the juice of 1/2 of the lemon into the bowl with the apple slices. This will give them a little taste but mostly prevent them from browning too quickly.

.... and then mix it all around....

6. Now dump in one cup of brown sugar. I have recently fallen in love with brown sugar (and Rhubarb... post on Rhubarb tarts coming soon).

Oh yeah, and if you added the lemon the salt isn't necessary.

... and with a wooden spoon mix it again. Yes, it has to be wooden!

Just kidding.

7. Back to the puff pastry sheets. After about 20-25 minutes, unfold the sheets and now you need to make a very important decision. Ok, it might not be all that important but still.

You can cut the sheet right along the lines where it was folded creating three long strips or...

......you can either cut the sheet in 1/2 right down the middle... which when baked will give you more puffed dough around the edges. Sometimes I will cut one in half and the other in thirds as you will see later.....

8. At this point preheat the oven to 415F.

Back to these babies. They have now given of a little juice. Yum.

Try a piece. Now try to stop. :)

10. When you’re ready, simply lay the apple slices in a straight line on top of the puffed pastry, overlapping them as you go. As you can see, this is the thinner rectangle of pastry, and the apples just about fill up the space.

Sometimes I like to sprinkle a little more brown sugar on top just for kicks.

11. And then top it off with a few dots of cold butter. The butter adds on a nice flavor. (I know, I know... that probably wasn't necessary)

These are what I had for leftover apple slices. Between myself and my 18 month old, they were gone in a jiffy.

12. Finally bake the tarts for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

13. Now when you are ready to serve them you could:

Sprinkle them with powdered sugar

or Serve with some whipped cream

or Next to some ice cream

or Drizzle some caramel on them

or Melt some jam.... and even add in a tablespoon of rum or cognac..... YUM

I have tried the tarts with all of these versions and they are all YUMMY! It all depends how you like it..... this time I used some raspberry jam because I didn't have any apricot which I would have normally used.