Fall baking season is in full swing, and apples present the perfect opportunity for this simple, yet elegant tart. The original recipe called for pears and fresh cranberries, and truth be told – I’ve never made it exactly as written. I was particularly intrigued with the walnut shortbread crust, and it is a winner! (I do love the pears and cranberries combination, so maybe I’ll get around to trying the original recipe for December holidays.)
In the meantime, using apples with liberal dashes of lemon rind, cardamom and cinnamon has resulted in tasty satisfaction. So much so that I make this very tart several times throughout autumn and winter.
This tart is quite showy considering the relative ease of putting it together. It uses a no fuss, press-and-bake crust that whips up in the food processor in seconds. Really. And you could make it by hand using a pastry blender if that’s more convenient for you—sometimes it is faster than washing the food processor parts!
The Gold Rush apples I used are from Hidden Star Orchards, near Jackson, CA, that keeps a year-round stand at my local Grand Lake Farmers’ Market. This is a brand new apple, and farmer Johann Smit is very excited to bring this beautifully flavored apple to our tables. The apple is very “apple-y” and well balanced with both sweetness and tartness. Its flesh is crisp and dense, making it ideal for baking so the slices hold their shape and you don’t end up with applesauce tart. Combining a few different apples in a recipe like this provides a fuller apple-flavor, so I added Granny Smiths to this tart.
Johann tells me he first tasted this apple back in 2010 at the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market in Washington DC. He learned it was very “organic friendly” and that it would do well here on the West Coast. He purchased about four acres’ worth from the East Coast farmer and this fall the apple is making its debut. It is worth seeking out this Gold Rush, and easy to locate Hidden Star Orchards at many Bay Area Farmers’ Markets.
An unexpected pairing I’ve offered when presenting this apple tart is serving it with a Late Harvest Zinfandel. I’ve just tried their latest release, 2012—just in time since we just poured our last bottle of the 2009! Dashe Cellars’ wines are made in downtown Oakland—one of our many urban wineries that receives plenty of well-deserved acclaim. The Late Harvest Zin is not a logical pairing, but trust me—it works! They only produced 440 cases, using perfectly managed, late harvested fruit from the famous Bella Winery’s Lily Hill Estate vineyard in northern Dry Creek Valley. If you’re a Piedmont area local—I urge you to visit Dashe Cellars’ tasting room. It’s close by and you can make a fun afternoon out of it by adding a stop into any of the great restaurants nearby.
A few advance tips:
- Select apple varieties that will retain their shape during baking, such as Granny Smith, Gold Rush, Pink Lady or my favorite, Pippin. (Sadly, Pippins are hard to find what with their short season and low production output.) Otherwise you will end up with a mushy tart.
- Using European-style butter will result in a crispier, crumblier crust (a good thing) as these butters have a slightly higher butter fat content than typical butter. It’s only a couple of percentage points difference, but the higher fat and lower moisture translates into a flakier crust.
- Toasting the walnuts before adding them to the crust brings out their fullest flavor, and tames some of the bitterness from the skins.
Apple Tart with Walnut Shortbread Crust
Adapted from Nicole Rees, Fine Cooking
INGREDIENTS
For the walnut shortbread crust:
1 large egg yolk
1/ 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/ 2 cups (6-3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/ 2 teaspoon table salt
1/ 2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/ 2-inch dice
1/ 3 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
For the apple filling:
5 – 6 medium sized apples for baking, such as Gold Rush, Granny Smith, Pink Lady or Pippin
1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed (or substitute apple brandy, such as Calvados)
1/ 4 – 1/ 3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1/ 4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/ 4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/ 8 teaspoon table salt
For the streusel topping:
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (1-3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/ 4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/ 4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
PREPARATION
Make the crust:
Position a rack near the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400˚ F. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk, half-and-half and vanilla. Put in the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are no longer visible. With the processor running, add the yolk mixture in a steady stream and then pulse until the moisture is fairly evenly dispersed, 10 to 20 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix in the chopped walnuts to distribute them evenly. The dough will be a mealy, crumbly mass.
Pour the crumb mixture into a 9-1/ 2-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Starting with the sides of the pan, firmly press the crumbs against the pan to create a crust about 1/ 4 inch thick. Press the remaining crumbs evenly against the bottom of the pan. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork and freeze for 10 minutes. Bake until the sides just begin to darken and the bottom is set, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 350˚F.
Make the filling:
Peel and core the apples, then cut them into about 1/ 4 inch slices. Mix in remaining filling ingredients and set aside while crust is baking and cooling. The amount of sugar used will depend upon the apples (sweetness and tartness). The spices are very flexible according to your taste. Try substituting nutmeg, ginger and allspice too.
Make the streusel and complete baking:
In a small bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar and salt. Add the melted butter and vanilla. Combine with your fingers until the mixture begins to clump together in small pieces when pressed. Pour the apple filling into the slightly cooled crust making sure apples are evenly distributed. Sprinkle the streusel over the filling, breaking it into smaller pieces if necessary.
Bake at 350˚ F until the fruit is tender when pierced with a fork, and the streusel and the edges of the crust are golden brown, about 50 minutes. If the tart begins to get overly brown at the edges, cover with foil. Let the tart cool on a rack until it’s just barely warm before serving.
