This year’s Mother’s Day was a scramble for ideas for me. I didn’t know what to do, nor did I really have much time, seeing how I had to study and prepare for exams (that are coming up really fast). Then, yesterday, I saw how many apples were sitting in the fruit baskets and getting riper and riper, with no one intent on eating them. Lucky for me, I still had one puff pastry in the freezer.
The apples ended up being catastrophic for me, in the sense that when I got up this morning, those apples that had been sitting in the basket vanished. Turns out one of my relatives brought time to my aunt’s house, where there are many people to eat them. After a short hunt, I came across three apples… Not enough for my plans.
After some asking around, I got my hands on a few other apples, and I could finish my tart the way I wanted to!
Seeing how it’s Mother’s Day, and also because I could never do anything to fill the center of my apple tarts without them looking awful, I decided to go for an apple rose in the center. Which was also a disaster on its own at first, since the thin apple slices would break instead of bending. In these situations, Google is a very good friend. Zapping my slices in the microwave for 30 seconds did the trick.
The recipe below is an improved version of this one.
- 1 store-bought puff pastry
- 4-5 apples (depending on pan and apple size)
- water
- sugar
- cinnamon
- Preheat oven 200°C.
- Peel and dice 2 apples. Put in a small saucepan with half a teaspoon of sugar and a bit of cinnamon. Cover with water, bring to oil, and lower the heat to simmer for about 20 mins.
- Put the puff pastry in the tart tin, and poke holes everywhere with a fork. Bake at 200°C for about 5-19 mins or until the surface begins to crisp (looks drier than when first put into the oven).
- Remove apples from water, and mash with a fork into applesauce. Reserve the cooking water. Spread into an even layer over the bottom of the pastry.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Peel and slice the remaining apples. Arrange them as you wish.
- Sprinkle with more cinnamon.
- Bake at 200°C for 30 mins or until apple slices are browned.
- Reduce the reserved water from step 4 with some added sugar to obtain a thick syrup.
- Remove the tart from the oven, and brush the syrup onto the apple slices to glaze.
- If you want to make a rose, zap the apple slices in the microwave for 30 secs to 1 min to be able to roll them, then arrange them on the applesauce.
Blue Blossoms Baking 