Author: Betty Binon, Stems and Forks
The crisp and juicy, yet sweet and tangy flavor of SweeTango apples pairs perfectly with the earthy tartness of chèvre in this incredible dish.
Ingredients:
For the pastry dough
- 260 grams or 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup ice cold water
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 3/4 an egg beaten (save the other 1/2 egg for the pastry wash later)
- 100 grams or 1/2 cup shortening
- 115 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted cold butter
For the filling
- 5 small apples or about 600 grams of SweeTango apples
- 1/2 cup or 115 grams chèvre unripened
- 2 tablespoons organic honey
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- A pinch of lemon zest
To finish
- 1 tablespoon organic honey to brush on apples before baking AND
- 1 tablespoon organic honey to brush on apples after baking
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small cubes
- 1/4 beaten egg
Instructions:
Grate on largest hole of box grater the cold butter on a plate.
Cut the shortening into small 1 cm cubes and add to the same plate as the butter and pop in freezer uncovered for about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking powder, whisk well and set aside.
In a small bowl take half the whisked egg, 1 teaspoon vinegar and 1/3 cup water and whisk together. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Take the chilled shortening and butter and toss with pastry cutter or forks in with the flour until the mixture resembles large coarse breadcrumbs.
Drizzle the water/vinegar and egg mixture over the flour mixture and toss together with a spatula until the mixture starts to come together.
Don’t overwork. You want to maintain some chunks of butter and shortening.
Dump out onto large piece of parchment paper about 14 x 14 inches and fold the dough over using the paper about 5-6 times. Use a misting bottle to spritz extra dry spots in between folds…if you don’t have a misting spray, use little droplets of cold water.
The dough should now hold its form with a few dry spots and chunks of butter/shortening.
Shape the dough into a rectangle and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, take the chèvre, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest and cardamom and mix thoroughly together with a small spatula until smooth and set aside.
When the dough is ready, allow the dough to soften/warm up a bit — about 5 minutes. Roll out to form a large rectangular shape with a rolling pin all the while constantly lightly sprinkling flour and moving your dough to avoid it from sticking to your counter.
Once it’s about 15 x 11 inches, take a ruler and sharp knife to trim the edges so the dough is 10 x 14 inches…. place the dough onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
With an offset spatula, spread the chèvre out into an even layer leaving about an inch of the edge.
Pop baking tray with rolled out dough into fridge.
Wash, core the SweeTango apples and cut into quarters length wise quarter and thinly slice about 8 slices (you can also use a mandolin to slice your apples).
Do this to all quartered apples so 20 quarters (from 5 small apples).
Take dough out of fridge and start arranging your apple slices starting from the left to right. Snuggly place the sliced groups side by side in a cross-hatching pattern, leaving about 1 inch from the edge until the chèvre is completely covered with apple slices-about 4 quarters across by about 5 quarters down.
Pop in fridge again for about 15 minutes to let the dough chill again.
Once the dough has chilled, brush about 1 tablespoon of honey on the sliced apples and
Brush the 1/4 beaten egg wash on the crust.
Sprinkle the small cubes of butter all over the tart.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden brown.
Brush on about 1 tablespoon of organic honey while the tart is still warm.
Serve as is or with a scoop of ice-cream.