For all of us, my mother used to make this French apple tart, usually to accompany Sunday supper. I requested the recipe because I wanted to bake something special for a special someone. Today I gave it a try, and it worked exactly as I remembered. The frangipane is what really sells it for me.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons cold water, or as needed
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon calvados (apple brandy)
- ⅔ cup ground almonds
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 medium sweet apples – peeled, cored, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon white sugar for decoration
- ¼ cup apricot jelly
Instructions
- To make the pastry: Stir 1 1/3 cups of flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Add butter, 1 egg yolk, and water; stir until mixture forms large crumbs. If it is too dry to press a handful together, stir in more water. Press dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Flatten slightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until firm. This part can be done up to three days in advance.
- To make the frangipane: Cream butter and 1/2 cup of sugar together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and soft. Gradually mix in an egg and remaining egg yolk one at a time. Stir in apple brandy. Stir 2 tablespoons of flour into ground almonds, then mix into batter. Set aside.
- Roll out pastry dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Fold loosely into quarters, and center the point in a 10-inch tart or pie pan. Unfold dough, and press into the bottom and up the sides. Prick with a fork all over, and flute the edges. Return pastry to the refrigerator to chill until firm.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place a baking sheet inside the oven while it preheats.
- Spoon frangipane into chilled pastry crust, and spread into an even layer. Arrange apple slices in an overlapping spiral pattern. Each slice should have one edge pressed into the frangipane until it touches the pastry base, and then overlap the previous slice. Start at the outside edge, and work towards the center.
- Place the pie plate on top of the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake until filling begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for another 10 minutes, then sprinkle sugar over the top of the tart. Return to the oven until the sugar caramelizes slightly, about 10 minutes more.
- Cool the tart on a wire rack. A short time before serving, warm the apricot jelly; add some water if necessary to make it a liquid consistency. Brush over the tart for a nice shine.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 516 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 51 g |
| Cholesterol | 177 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Sodium | 289 mg |
| Sugars | 27 g |
| Fat | 32 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Loved it! The one thing I had to do differently was add more baking time (14 minutes) and move to a lower rack. The tart had a subtle flavor, the crust was buttery and flaky, and it was very pretty. I mixed Granny Smith and Gala apples sliced on a mandolin. Perfect!!! Delicious and had a nice texture. Will definitely bake this dessert again!
This is yummy, and can be lovely/fancy. Grind the almonds carefully to make sure there are no larger pieces. Maybe a bit too much almond? If you aren’t sure, reduce the amount as it definitely impacts the flavor. Set aside more time than you think to arrange the apple slices to look pretty. This is a slow process. Use MORE apple, and less filling for a more “apple” experience. I used applesauce liquid instead of the brandy, it was great and easy. I skipped the jam glaze on top, we like the less goopy look, and it is already pretty sweet. Enjoy – my very pick adult son liked it!
Super easy and tasty. I like that there’s alone flour in the frangipani. I put less sugar in the frangipani and no sugar on top of the apples bcs I prefer tart to sweet.
It was a hit on my husband’s birthday. Was devoured in seconds. I served it with vanilla ice cream. Also made a few ammendments. Baked for almost 45 mins at 175° C. I did not use a baking sheet, and added apple juice instead of brandy. Also didn’t use apricot jelly. Just brushed leftover frangipane for some glaze. Definitely making again for some other occasion!
Made it as per instructions, I used small apples but still had loads left over so I would halve the apple quantity next time great dish though
This was the most delicious desert I have EVER made. I added a teaspoon of imitation almond essence instead of the almonds… which meant I also didn’t add the flour to the almonds. I baked it in my air fryer, however the apples started browning very quickly so I covered it with tinfoil on a lower heat and baked it for longer. Before doing the final glaze with the apricot jelly, I patted it with paper towels to remove the excess grease (some had suggested that it was a very greasy recipe in the comments). SO WORTH BAKING! This will be a go-to recipe…
Perfect! So easy & a fantastic way to celebrate the coming of the Fall season!
Delicious! Will definitely be making this again. The only thing is that the bottom was a bit underdone, so will probably blind bake next time.
Saved a little time and used pre-made pastry, that I rolled out onto pie plate and then followed the recipe almost exactly. I don’t believe it took away from the original recipe and just makes it slightly easier for those of us short on time! Only change was to use Amaretto instead of the Calvados, because that is what I had, and I thought it would add to the almond flavor, and maybe an additional splash of almond essence. Oh and I didnt have apricot jam, so used strawberry instead- no problem! Needless to say my family (who can be very suspicious of new recipes) absolutely devoured it, This was a huge hit and I will be making it again very soon with no other changes.
The only thing I changed was the use of the brandy. It turned out amazingly!!
Great recipe, kid approved!!
This was absolutely an amazing dessert. Everyone LOVED it, I mean they really liked it! I love this recipe so much I gave it to my friend to try out! Definitely my favorite apple recipe I have ever made!
Bake this amazing apple pie at 400º for 45 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over the top and continue to bake 10to 15 minutes. I did not have apricot jelly so I mixed an apricot spread with Raspberry All Fruit. It was to die for!
I make this all the time, I dont use the almonds. Everyone loves it!
A winner! Made for July 4th party; used 2 Honey Crisp & 2 Granny Smith’s; toasted almonds prior to grinding & added 1 tsp almond extract to the frangipane mixture based on previous reviews. This was a beautiful dessert and equally as tasty. Thrre wasn’t a crumb left!
I was confused about the time to bake but once it was done the tart was great!
For Valentine’s dinner, I cooked this for two of us. It was amazing. I will definitely do this agin and again. By reading the other people’s review, I made sure the crust is frozen hard before I put apples in, also, I added a little nature almond flavour. Good tart. I also agree with many of other reviewers that the cooking time need more. I added 30 minutes more than the original receipt suggested. I add 10 minutes each time and check the doneness, then add another 10, then another 10 minutes.
I followed the recipe. It is delicious. For the ground almonds I ground whole almonds in the food processor. It was good. Tasted the tart before putting on the apricot jam and it was not so sweet. Make sure to glaze the tart with the jam. Next time I make it though I will grind blanched whole almonds because I find almond peeling to be slightly bitter. I will be making this apple tart again. And again.
While the flavor was good and the family ate it all, should the base have been cooked first? The base had an uncooked flavor to it. Instead of apple brandy, I used apple juice. I chose Envy apples for the fruit.
I made a variation on this recipe using pears and apples – also using cut up apple in the frangipane and sliced almonds to top to complement the ground almond. Was GREAT. I think maybe better than the stock recipe. Though I found the cooking time with all the fruit on top was probably twice what was suggested. The pastry – Follow it to the letter! it’s a good one! I had some problems with it while working the dough and was kind of worried that it might be too dry or something – as the ‘wet’ consistency was difficult – but it worked out great in the end. Just dont’ leave much exposed or it will likely burn with all the heat required to cook the fruit in this recipe. Oh – i nearly forgot! I used vanilla bean extract in the frangipane as well as crushed almond. It was great. Hopefully my picture of this is visible (?)
Amazing recipe – easy to follow. I’ve tweaked it a little as I didn’t have ground almond – so used ground nutmeg mixed with some cinnamon instead and it tastes fantastic. Also, once the pie is almost ready, I would drizzle some honey (after having already added some sugar on top of the pie) and pop it back in the oven for 5 minutes, it really helps the sugar caramelise faster. Made it for my partner and he loved it straight away.