THIN APPLE TART

This is the kind of dessert I really like: very thin pastry with glazed, caramelized fruit. It’s the perfect thing to pick up and eat with a coffee. If you have the pastry in the freezer already (don’t make your own puff pastry unless you’re crazy), all you really need is three ingredients.

FOR 4–6

flour, for dusting

250g puff pastry

4 Granny Smith apples

200g caster sugar

150g cold unsalted butter

50ml Calvados

icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Flour your work surface lightly. Roll the pastry out into a rectangle approx. 22cm long x 6cm wide (and around 2mm thick) – the same width, more or less, as the apple slices when you cut them. Crimp the edges of the pastry with your fingers, and prick the base with a fork to help it cook evenly.

Line a tray with baking paper and place the pastry on top.

Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the core. Then slice each apple very thinly – around 2mm – not paper-thin, it still needs some texture. Place each whole sliced apple half on the pastry, cut side down, and push down on it so that the apple slices fan out slightly on an angle while still overlapping closely. Sprinkle the sugar over the top. Chop the butter into small cubes and sprinkle over the tart too.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Pour the Calvados on top of the apples, then turn the tart over (use a spatula, or place another lined tray on top and use it to help you turn) to caramelize the apples. Turn the heat down to around 120–130°C and cook for another 10–15 or even 20 minutes until all the pastry is golden brown. Turn it over again, leave to rest for about 10–15 minutes, then sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with ice cream on top, or with coffee on the side. (It’s nice to eat it warm, rather than straight from the oven.)