Bistro Apple Tart
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Time
1¼ hours, plus 2 hours chilling
Yield
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
Puff Pastry
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, about 9 ounces (255 grams)20 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½-inch dice (4 tablespoons kept separate)1 teaspoon table salt 6 tablespoons cold water, plus a tablespoon more, if necessaryTopping
2 Granny Smith apples, or other tart apple, sliced thin1 teaspoon granulated sugar 2 tablespoons apple jellyBefore You Begin
One tart requires 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe. Freeze the remainder, or triple the recipe. This dough will keep in the freezer for at least three months. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap, then seal in zipper lock bag. Thaw by placing in refrigerator overnight. Illustrations for shaping the tarts and other forms can be found in the related Illustrated How to Guide, "Making Puff Pastries."
Instructions
- Place flour in workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade; add the 4 tablespoons butter; pulse until butter is absorbed, about 10 to 12 pulses of 1 second each
- Add remaining butter; pulse once or twice to distribute. Dissolve salt in water and add to flour mixture; pulse 3 or 4 times, until dough just starts to form a rough ball (see illustration 1) - do not overprocess. If mixture remains very dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time and pulse again.
- Turn dough onto floured work surface and shape into rough rectangle, then place on top of sheet of well-floured plastic wrap measuring at least 12-by-18 inches. Lightly flour top of dough and cover with another sheet of wrap. Press dough with rolling pin to flatten, then roll back and forth several times with rolling pin to make 12-by-18-inch rectangle of dough.
- Peel away plastic wrap and invert dough onto floured work surface, long side facing you. Peel away second piece of wrap. Fold top third of dough down and bottom third up (see illustration 2) to make 4-by-18-inch rectangle, then roll up dough from one end (illustration 3). Divide dough into thirds, press each third into a square, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Set two of the squares aside for other purposes, or triple the recipe.
- Shape dough square into a somewhat even disk. Place on lightly floured surface, flour the dough, and roll into a 10-inch disk. Slide onto cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using a 10-inch plate, cut dough into an even disk. Prick dough with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals to prevent puffing during baking. Arrange apple slices on top of dough in concentric circles, overlapping the slices slightly and leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake on middle rack in a 450 degree oven until dough is baked through and apple slices have colored at the edges, 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
- Heat apple jelly in a small pan on stovetop, brush over slightly cooled tart. Serve immediately.
Time
1¼ hours, plus 2 hours chillingYield
Serves 2-4Ingredients
Puff Pastry
Topping
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Puff Pastry
Topping
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Puff Pastry
Topping
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
We wondered if we could eliminate the repeated rolling and folding called for in the conventional puff pastry recipe, but still create multiple layers in our quick puff pastry dough recipe. We discovered we could do this by folding the dough and rolling it up jellyroll style in just seconds. Mixing the dough in a food processor also helped to speed things up. The dough puffed as well as any quick puff pastry we've ever made. Not only that, it definitely lived up to our hopes for saving time; the whole process—from measuring the flour to wrapping the dough and refrigerating—took only 15 minutes.
Before You Begin
One tart requires 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe. Freeze the remainder, or triple the recipe. This dough will keep in the freezer for at least three months. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap, then seal in zipper lock bag. Thaw by placing in refrigerator overnight. Illustrations for shaping the tarts and other forms can be found in the related Illustrated How to Guide, "Making Puff Pastries."
Instructions
- Place flour in workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade; add the 4 tablespoons butter; pulse until butter is absorbed, about 10 to 12 pulses of 1 second each
- Add remaining butter; pulse once or twice to distribute. Dissolve salt in water and add to flour mixture; pulse 3 or 4 times, until dough just starts to form a rough ball (see illustration 1) - do not overprocess. If mixture remains very dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time and pulse again.
- Turn dough onto floured work surface and shape into rough rectangle, then place on top of sheet of well-floured plastic wrap measuring at least 12-by-18 inches. Lightly flour top of dough and cover with another sheet of wrap. Press dough with rolling pin to flatten, then roll back and forth several times with rolling pin to make 12-by-18-inch rectangle of dough.
- Peel away plastic wrap and invert dough onto floured work surface, long side facing you. Peel away second piece of wrap. Fold top third of dough down and bottom third up (see illustration 2) to make 4-by-18-inch rectangle, then roll up dough from one end (illustration 3). Divide dough into thirds, press each third into a square, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Set two of the squares aside for other purposes, or triple the recipe.
- Shape dough square into a somewhat even disk. Place on lightly floured surface, flour the dough, and roll into a 10-inch disk. Slide onto cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using a 10-inch plate, cut dough into an even disk. Prick dough with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals to prevent puffing during baking. Arrange apple slices on top of dough in concentric circles, overlapping the slices slightly and leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake on middle rack in a 450 degree oven until dough is baked through and apple slices have colored at the edges, 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
- Heat apple jelly in a small pan on stovetop, brush over slightly cooled tart. Serve immediately.
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