Apple Pie, but Better

It’s apple time. Yep, I know it has been apple time for a month or so but that last month has been a little nuts.

Still, I feel that I should be making apple pie at this time of year. Only thing is, I am not an apple pie lover. Or, a cooked apple of any kind lover. Cooked apples to me are just, well, just okay, nothing to jump up and down about and, until now, I didn’t think anything to really blog about.

My, oh my, how my opinion of cooked apples has changed after this discovery. It is not a revolutionary idea but it is perfectly sweet in all the right places. They are chewy where they should be. They are crisp and biscuity on the bottom. They are nutty and crunchy on the top. And, they are moist and spicy and sweet right in the middle.

They are half tart, half crumble. The leftovers don’t make a crostata or a free-form tart, but a pizza, as I was matter-of-factly informed by Big Daughter. In fact, it would be worth making a whole batch of these in the form of pizza for a more substantial dessert.

There is a little finickiness, but once you get going it is all just fine and fun and the finished product, especially warm with a little vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche, is pretty frickin’ good.

I used Gordon Ramsay’s pâte sucrée recipe. Not because I love it but because I had made too much a while ago, had it in my freezer and needed to use it up before we go seasonless in California. Turns out, it is perfect for this. It is strong enough to hold up to the filling and the crumble top and some minor manhandling getting the little tarts out of the tin and, conveniently enough, perfectly crisp enough to balance the soft of the apples and the tender crunch of the crumble.

The apples I used, while I bought them as Macintosh, didn’t taste like Macintosh. We think, maybe, that they had been growing with some Gravenstein and got a little mixed up. Regardless of all that, they cooked beautifully in this. You could use any cooking apple. 

Apple Crumble Tarts (makes 24 or 6-8 pizzas for a little less finickiness)

1/2 recipe Gordon’s Pâte Sucrée (see below)

Crumble

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup spelt flour (I like using spelt because it makes the crumble a little crunchier I find)

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup softened butter

Filling

6 apples 

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

11/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Grated nutmeg

Butter 24 muffin tins. Preheat oven to 350º.

Make crumble by rubbing all the crumble ingredients together until it makes pea-sized crumbs.

Roll out pastry and using a biscuit cutter or a lightly floured glass, cut out 24 circles. I used a 78mm biscuit cutter for this. I recommend rolling the pastry out in batches to avoid re-rolling and the toughness this can cause. Line the muffin tins with the pastry circles. They won’t come up the entire side, they should come up about 1 1/2 centimetres.

Make the filling by peeling, and grating the apples into a large bowl. Quickly mix with the lemon juice to avoid discolouration. Mix the sugar spices and cornstarch together and mix in to the apples.

Use the filling to fill the tarts being careful to avoid dripping on the sides and filling them just level with the top of the pastry.

Crumble the crumble over the tops.

Put in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes or until the crumble is cooked and the bottoms are golden brown.

Remove from oven. Cool a few minutes in tin. Using a small knife, gently remove them from the tin and continue to cool on a wire rack. 

These will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container. 

To make the pizzas, roll out the pastry, place on a parchment lined baking sheet, top with filling, roll edges up slightly, crumble the crumble on top and bake until golden brown.

Gordon Ramsay’s Pâte Sucrée

250 grams softened butter

180 grams caster sugar (you can substitute granulated, just don’t tell Gordon I told you so)

3-4 vanilla pods (which is a lot, so I understand if you cut it back)

2 large eggs, beaten

500 grams plain flour (use all purpose and you should be fine)

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until smooth and creamy, but not fluffy. Slit open the vanilla pods and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife, adding them to the creamed mixture.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually incorporate the beaten eggs. Stop the machine once or twice and scrape down the sides.

Sift the flour and salt together. With the mixer on its lowest speed, add the flour in 3 or 4 stages. As soon as the mixture comes together as a crumbly dough, stop the machine.

Gather the dough together and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Briefly knead it with your hands until smooth - this should only take a minute or two. Avoid over-working the pastry.

Divide into 3 or 4 batches and wrap in cling film. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling out. Or freeze it for later.

Before you roll it out, give it a light kneading to prevent it from cracking as you roll. Dust your work surface very lightly with flour and, using light, even strokes, roll out the pastry.