Like plum crazy, get it? Yes I realize I’m a total grandma for saying that.
It’s apple season (and pumpkin season) so what better way to get some fresh ones than to drive 2 hours out of town to pick them yourself? Right – so that’s exactly what we did last weekend. Fellow blogger Nicole and I took our honeys on a road trip outta town to take in the farm-fresh air of Oak Glen, CA. Do you remember when we did this last year? Well this year wasn’t quite as fruitful as last year, but I did manage to score some delicious apples, cider and some wildflower honey.
And now I’m going crazy with apple-based recipes to use it all in. This one is from my awesome friend Emily, who assures me that seriously anyone can make this. I’m going to prove her wrong (or maybe right) on Saturday.
Free Form Apple Tart
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 9 tablespoons cold butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 or 4 medium apples, preferably Golden Delicious, or pears, peeled, cored and very thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- Crème fraîche, sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
How To:
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse once or twice. Cut 8 tablespoons butter into chunks, and add it and egg yolk to flour mixture. Process until butter and flour are blended, about 10 seconds.
Turn mixture into a bowl, and add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. After adding 3 or 4 tablespoons you should be able to gather mixture into a ball; wrap ball in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or freeze for about 15 minutes).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll or pat dough into a 10-inch circle; it can be quite crude in shape. Place it on a cookie or pizza sheet, preferably nonstick.
Arrange fruit slices on top, right out to edges; make the pattern attractive, if you like. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cut remaining butter into bits, and top fruit with it.
Bake until crust is nicely browned and fruit is tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm with your choice of cream topping
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? I’ll be (hopefully serving this to my lovely lady friends at Le Salon this weekend.
If you’re looking for something more savory, check out this recipe for Vegetarian Manzana Chili Verde from Nicole. You apple crazy yet?
