A Simple Apple Tart Recipe (for 2!)
This super simple apple tart is made by layering apple sauce and apples on top of store bought puff pastry and baking until crispy and delicious. It’s incredibly easy to make but looks impressive!
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I believe that the best desserts are chocolate desserts. I just don’t really get why anyone would ever order a fruit tart over a chocolate cake. Or why some people eat the jam-filled biscuits before the chocolate covered ones. I always eat the chocolate ones first.
And yet this simple apple tart recipe is potentially one of my favorite recipes.
You’ll love this simple apple tart recipe because:
- Easy: We use bought puff pastry which means that all the hard work is done by someone else
- Texture: The combination of the soft apples and crunchy pastry is fantastic.
- Flavor: By cooking half the apple into an apple sauce you get a really strong apple flavor. You can also add spices, sugar, lemon, whatever to the apple sauce to give the tart some extra flavor!
- Size: You can make this tart for a massive crowd or just two people (which is what I do) and it’s really easy to scale up or down!
For more fall baking ideas, check out my apple pancake recipe or my recipe for apple cider donuts!
How to make this apple tart:
1) Prep the apples
We start off with store-bought puff pastry (Trader Joes often has it in the freezer section). Take it out of the freezer and let it defrost while you get your apples ready.
I made a two-person tart so I used just one apple. If you wanted to make a larger tart just count about 1 apple per 2 servings.
Peel the apple and finely slice half of it while you dice the rest. Set the slices aside and start making the apple sauce.
2) Make the apple sauce
To make a quick apple sauce simply toss the diced apple in a small saucepan and add enough water to halfway cover the apples (i.e. the depth of the water should come half of the depth of the apples).
Throw in any spices you like or do what I did and add half a teaspoon of sugar and the zest of half a lemon. In terms of spices, you could add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, maybe a pinch of nutmeg or some brown sugar. It’s up to you!
Cover the pan and simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring every minute or so. You want the apples to be soft such that you can break them up if you press your spoon into them. Once they’re soft uncover the pan and let cook until all of the water has evaporated off completely and the sauce is starting to dry out a little bit. Set the sauce aside.
3) Prep the pastry
Next, you want to roll out your puff pastry and cut a piece that’s about 8 inches by 5 inches. If you used more apples than you want a piece of pastry that is large enough for you to spread all of your apple slices over. You can roll the rest of the pastry back up and stick it in the freezer again.
4) Assemble the apple tart
Now you get to assemble! Just spread out the apple sauce so it’s in an even layer. Make sure you leave 1/2 an inch or so of pastry on the edges. Grab the apples and layer them over the sauce in whatever pattern you like and then brush the edges of the pastry with milk to help it brown nicely. Finally, I like to sprinkle over some sugar (ideally something like demerara) to give it a bit of crunch.
5) Bake and enjoy!
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry has risen and is nicely browned. Eat your gorgeous tart and feel awed by how happy a simple apple tart recipe can make you.
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Simple Apple Tart Recipe for two
Ingredients
- Puff Pastry store-bought works fine, you'll need a piece that's about 8 x 5 inches
- 1 Baking Apple Granny smith works well
- 1 tsp milk To brush over the pastry
- 1 tsp demerara sugar optional
Optional ingredients to flavor the apple sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- Zest of half a lemon
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
Optional glaze (type 1)
- 1 tbsp apricot jam
Optional glaze (type 2)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
- Take the puff pastry out of the freezer to defrost.
- Peel your apple and cut ⅓ to ½ of the apple into thin slices. You want enough slices to cover most of the pastry, so if you're using a piece of pastry that's 5 x 8 inches you'll want 10 – 12 slices of apple. Dice the rest of the apple into small cubes.
- Start making the apple sauce by combing the diced apples, 3 tbsps of water and what ever flavourings you want in a small saucepan. In terms of flavouring I used sugar and lemon zest but you could use cinnamon and sugar or cinnamon and nutmeg – whateeveryou want really!
- Cover the apple sauce and let it simmer over a medium low heat for 5 – 10 minutes or until the apples are soft and you can mash them slightly with a wooden spoon. At that point uncover the sauce and cook for another couple minutes until the moisture has cooked off. Set aside.
- Cut a piece of your puff pastry to about 8 by 5 inches. You can refreeze the rest.
- Spread the apple sauce over the pastry, leaving a half inch border of pastry uncovered.
- Layer the apple slices ontop of the apple sauce andn then brush the exposed pastry with milk. Sprinkle on demerara sugar, if you're using it.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
- If you'd like to glaze the tart then heat either the apricot jam or the honey and lemon in a small bowl in the microwave unitl liquidafied. Then brush the glaze over the apples. Enjoy!