This is an apple tart of my youth. We used to call it the “metro” because you can really eat a meter of it…
You can either use a large mold or 5–6 small ones. The small ones are a better solution if you use the tart as a dessert at dinner, then they will look nice on a plate and you can accompany each one with a spoon of whipped cream. In this recipe I use a dough which suits to a lot of tarts, a sort of quick puff pastry.
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients (makes 5 small or one big pie)
for the pastry
150 g flour
75 g cold butter, cut in chunks very cold water as needed
one tsp of cinnamon
a pinch of salt
for the topping
4 small sweet apples
a handful of walnuts
one tbsp of breadcrumbs
two tbsp of spirit (whisky, brandy or cognac)
some drops of lemon juice
sugar
cinnamon
some butter
- Make the dough mixing quickly flour, butter, a pinch of salt and ice-cold water. Make sure that chunks of butter don’t completely melt in the dough. Wrap in plastic film and put in the fridge for 20–30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven at 180° and peel the apples and sprinkle some lemon juice on them.
- With a small mixer grind the walnuts (not very fine). Mix the walnuts with the breadcrumbs, a spoon of sugar, the spirit and the cinnamon.
- On a lightly floured board, knead gently the dough and form it into a smooth rectangle. Roll it in one direction only, keeping edges straight and even. Don’t overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect. Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that, rotate 90° and roll it out again in the new direction, repeating the same process two more times. Finally roll it out normally.
- Cut out the discs of dough 1,5 cm larger than the bottom of your molds. Line the dough in your butters molds.
- In each mold put a layer of the walnut mixture, then place the apples. Sprinkle with some sugar and cinnamon, some butter flakes and bake in the oven at 180° for about 15 minutes until crust is light gold.
