I don’t make tarts every week and only began this one when a neighbour brought me a handout for our village’s annual Autumn “Apple Day”. We live in rural Derbyshire, where various small local events are quite popular.

Part of the proceedings was an apple pie/apple tart competition, so I decided to give it a go. We had a good crop of apples in the garden. Rather than create a new recipe I Googled “Apple Tart” and found a recipe, but as so often happens, I didn’t stick to it. (My wife thinks it’s the rebel in me, but I think I’m too old to be a rebel.)

Anyway, the first thing I changed was the pastry, mainly by adding in some orange zest to give it a bit more “zing”. The other changes I made by necessity “on the hoof” while preparing; I’ll tell you as we go along. Also, some of the weights and measurements may not be as specific as you’re used to. (Key words are “some” & “about”.) I know you’re not supposed to “chuck it in as you go along”, but it worked for me this time. Oh, didn’t I say – my tart won the competition?

Makes: 12 slices, maybe more if you’re being frugal

Time: 15 min to make the pastry + chilling. 20 min to line the tin with pastry + more cooling. 30 min for the blind baking. About 40 – 50 min for the filling. 20 – 25 min baking. Some of these times overlap, so probably 2 – 2½ hours overall + cooling times.

Need: A food processor is handy, but not essential. Also a medium saucepan, a rolling pin, a soft brush and cold hands. Most importantly: A 23cm/9″ fluted tart tin with a removable bottom. (I lined the bottom of mine with baking parchment, but I don’t think that’s essential.)

Level: Fairly easy, but lining the tin with pastry dough needs care and patience.

Pastry ingredients

175g/6oz plain flour
30g/1oz icing sugar
100g/3.5oz cold butter, cubed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 orange – Zest only

Filling and topping

About 1.75kg/4lb apples (probably 12 medium sized ones. Mine were semi sweet eaters)
Some lemon juice
40g – 50g golden caster sugar
25g – 30g butter, melted
1 egg (just the white)
Some ground almonds (about 40g – 60g)
Some semolina (about 30g – 40g) *If you don’t have any, increase the ground almonds
Some Ricotta (about 40g – 60g) * It’s probably OK to use quark or cream cheese
A sprinkling of Demerara sugar

N.B. The recipe only called for apple puree as a filling, but it was too wet and quite bland, so I added whatever I could find in the cupboard and the fridge that seemed suitable. None of the final five, italicised ingredients featured in the original recipe, but they worked so well that I’ll use them again.

Method

1. For the pastry, put the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and pulse until breadcrumb consistency. OR mix it in a large bowl, by hand, rubbing in the butter with your finger tips.

2. Lay out a sheet of cling film on your work surface. (Best done before your hands get too doughy)

3. Add the egg and orange zest to the dry mixture and gently bring it together into a loose clump. Don’t overwork it. Tip the clump onto the cling film and wrap it, gently bringing it into a firm disc shape. Place in the fridge for at least 30 min. (I actually had mine in there for three days while I dithered about what I’d finally make.)

4. On a lightly floured surface (cold if possible) roll out the pastry to the thickness of about 5mm. It needs to be big enough to cover the base and sides of your tin + a little overhang. A sheet of cling film over the pastry when rolling avoids it sticking to the rolling pin. Keep lifting and turning the pastry as you roll it.

5. Lift the rolled pastry into your tin and gently and press it into the sides so you get a fluted edge later. Use floured fingers or a piece of spare pastry in a ball. It’s OK to have some overhanging the edge. If time allows, put the tin + pastry in the fridge to rest for another 30 min. (* see tips below)

6. While the pastry is chilling turn the oven on to reach 200°C / fan 180°C / 400°F / Gas 6. If you have a baking stone (or maybe a circular metal pizza tray) put it in the oven to heat up too.

7. To blind bake the pastry base, put a piece of cling film across the base then another sheet at 90° to make a cross shape. Gently press this in and fill with baking beans or similar. Bake for 15 min. then remove the cling film and beans.

8. Brush the inside of the base with egg white then return it to the oven for a further 12 – 15 min. Carefully trim away the excess pastry with a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler. Set aside to cool.

9. Sometime during, or just after, stage 8, begin the filling. Set aside four apples then peel, core and chop the rest. Put them in a saucepan, sprinkling with lemon juice to avoid browning. Stir in about 30g sugar. There should be enough liquid to enable you to heat the mixture without it burning. If not, add a small amount of water. Cover and cook the apple mixture for 25 – 30 min, stirring occasionally. Test for sweetness and add more sugar as necessary. Now turn the oven up to 210°C / Fan 190°C / 415°F / Gas 6.5.

10. When the filling mixture has softened into a puree, strain off as much excess liquid as possible then blend in the ground almonds, semolina and ricotta. You need to create a soft but firm paste that will support a layer of apple slices. Spread this mixture over the cooled base of the tart.

11. Peel and core the remaining apples then cut into slices, aiming for similar sized pieces if possible. Arrange these in neat concentric circles, starting from the outside. Brush them with melted butter then sprinkle over a little Demerara sugar.

12. Bake for 20 – 25 min. Keep an eye on the pastry edges as they may darken too much. If so, be ready to cover with foil. Once baked, leave in the tin for 10 – 15 min. then take it out and place on a wire rack to cool fully, unless you want to serve it warm.

* Tip 1 – To lift the pastry into the fluted tin I slid the removable base under the rolled pastry then folded the pastry inwards. It was easy to lift it all into the tin and then open out the pastry. Another method is to wrap the rolled pastry around your rolling pin then unroll it onto the tin. Take your pick.

* Tip 2 – Keep any left over pastry wrapped in cling film. If any cracks or gaps appear during the first stage of blind baking you can patch them.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this tart. If you want to see more similar recipes click here. If you’re a chocolate lover you’ll like my Apple and White Chocolate Tart and my Chocolate Prune and Orange Tart. Definitely worth a look!