Vegan French Apple Tart

Yield: 1 x 8 inch tart

A classic French Tart is a beautiful thing. I first fell in love with tarts, like truly developed an affinity for them, when I was in my early 20s (before culinary school) watching food network TV all winter. Specifically French Food at Home with Laura Calder. Her cooking style had a pretty big impact on me. It was for me visually stunning, and at the time exactly the type of food I was really wanting to make in my own kitchen. There was a comfort to her food but also an elegance. I own all or most of her cookbooks and she goes into detail about tart bases in at least 2 of them. Different recipes for creamy tarts, fruit tarts, and galettes. Some you press in the tart pan in pieces, others you want to roll out with your rolling pin. Mix your dough by hand, or in a food processor. So I guess all of this is what runs through my mind when I think about any kind of French Tart.

Even though how I eat has changed as far as what I consume, everything I love about making and eating tarts is possible. I just had a slice of this vegan apple tart, along side a scoop of "So Delicious" (the name don't lie!) Cashew Vanilla Ice cream. (My feelings about ice cream run just as deep as they do for French Tarts, so this will be a post for another day) It was delicious and I'm fairly certain most people wouldn't realize it was dairy/egg free unless you told them. This fact is at least part of my drive for experimenting these days. It doesn't taste vegan. It just tastes damn good.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Shortcrust Pastry
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cold vegan butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup ice water

Filling
1 1/4 cup sweetened apple sauce. (I had unsweetened and just whisked in a bit of powdered   sugar and cinnamon to taste)
2 large green apples, cored and sliced a little less than 1/4 inch thick (I didn't peel mine)
1 tbsp vegan butter
3 tbsp sugar

Method:
Pastry Shell

1. I always use my food processor because it does a great job. Give the flour, sugar and salt a few pulses together to combine. Add the cold butter and process just until the butter is evenly distributed into the flour. With the motor running pour the ice water in, in a steady stream. Don't over mix your dough. Less than 30 seconds should do it.
2. Wrap dough in saran wrap in a disc shape and refrigerate for about an hour to rest and chill.
3. When the dough is chilled turn your oven on to 400° F. You will need to dust flour on your work surface, on top of the dough, and your rolling pin. Probably more than once to prevent sticking. Roll your dough larger than the 8 inch pan. About 1/4 inch thick. Press evenly into your tart pan. There will be a leftover chunk of dough for sure. (I just baked it off like a cookie and ate it with So Delicious Caramel Cashew Ice cream and some apple sauce while I continued the recipe. Yup. Full disclosure. This was right before dinner too.)
4. Now I pop it in the freezer for a awhile while my scrap shortbread cookie bakes and get the apricot glaze ready.
5. Now time to blind bake the tart shell. Poke the bottom of chilled shell a few times with a fork so it doesn't puff up when baking. Line your tart with parchment paper and fill with some dried beans to weight it down and pop it in the oven. (Sitting on a sheet pan) 15-20 minutes. You want it to be golden but not dark. Some ovens run hotter than others. Dark coloured pans lend to faster cooking times. You can lower the heat to 375 F if necessary no biggie. Once it's golden take out the parchment and beans and bake another 3-5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350° F for final baking step.

Apricot Glaze

1. Just put the apricot preserves in a small pot with a tbsp of water. Just needs to heat to be fluid then you can pass it through a strainer into a bowl and set aside.

Apples

1. Slice apples a bit less than a 1/4 inch thick. Heat 1 tbsp of vegan butter ( I used earth balance) in a pan on medium heat. Add the sugar, give it a stir, then throw in your sliced apples and get them coated with the buttery sugar. You want to cook the apples down for 2-3 minutes until they soften a bit. Keeping in mind they will get more time in the oven to finish.

Assembly & Finish Baking

1. Fill your prepared tart shell with the sweetened apple sauce. Arrange your apples in a circular pattern starting at the outside edge working your way inwards. You can brush with a little melted butter if you want. Bake for 25-30 min on a sheet pan. Apples should be soft but not mushy.
2. When tart is cool brush with warm apricot glaze. Dust with powdered sugar or powdered cinnamon sugar if desired.