VIOLET'S SUBLIME APPLE TART
For the pastry you need:
1 ½ cups of white flour
A little more than ½ cup of butter (let it out from the fridge for a while so it will be soft)
1 egg
2 ½ tablespoons of very cold water.
For the filling you need:
½ cup of fresh cream (also half- skimmed one is good, even better...)
½ cup of sugar
1 cup of ground almonds
1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of white flour
2 tablespoons of Calvados (apple brandy).
You still need:
4 apples, of a kind which gets soft after cooking, without melting completely
1 teaspoon of honey
1/3 cup of apricot jam
cinnamon
-------------------------------------------
In a bowl mix together carefully the flour with a pinch of salt; add the butter, egg and water.
It should look like big crumbs. If it’s too dry add a little bit of water.
Don’t knead too much.
Make a ball with the dough and wrap it into a plastic film. Let it rest in the fridge for ½ hour at least.
Prepare the filling ingredients mixing them together, adding the Calvados at the end; you should get a kind of thick cream consistency.
Roll the pastry on a floured surface and put it into a round pie pan of about 25 cm diameter (for my American friends I’d say about 10 inch). Flute the edges and prick the bottom with a fork.
Put pastry into the fridge for a while.
Heat your oven at 200°C (400°F).
Take your pan with the pastry out of the fridge and add the filling by spoon, make a regular layer with it.
Peel and core the apples, cut them into quite thin slices, and arrange them in an overlapping spiral all over the filling.
Put the tart into the oven and bake it for about 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 175°C (350°F) and let it bake other 10 minutes at least.
Then take it out and add a lot of cinnamon on the top and put into the oven again for other 10 minutes.
Cool your tart on a wire rack, this is very important!
A little before serving warm up the apricot jam with a little water and brush it on the tart surface.
Add a last touch...some honey drops!