My little prince, the apple of my eye
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 08:49PM My husband never ceases to amaze me.
When we discovered that the baby we are expecting in June is a boy, the man who has three sons already, seemed, well, crest-fallen. Isn't it the dream of all men to produce a brood of strong, strapping boys to carry on the family name? I guess three was enough of a legacy, because Hubs was ready for a girl.
I, on the other hand, was equally surprised with my own reaction. As much as I had thought that a girl would help balance the levels of testosterone in our home, I found myself overwhelmed with joy when they said those three little words "It's a boy."
As I dreamed about decorating the nursery in a "Petit Prince" motif, (I am a French girl, after all), the food world started buzzing with news of a new Prince in town-- the Red Prince Apple. And while it's still a few months until I get to meet my own little prince, this one was eagerly waiting to make my acquaintance.
I accepted hastily, as royalty waits for no one, and was glad I did. Waiting for me was an Ontario-grown apple that is grown exclusively by an apple orchard in Thornbury. Its firm red skin caught my eye, but it was so much more than just a polished exterior. The sweet lightly golden flesh was full of flavour, and distinct from other apples, especially at this time of year when offerings can be watery and tasteless. At its peak in the winter months, the Red Prince is a delicious eating apple first and foremost. But it also has more to offer. The Red Prince stays firm during cooking making it ideal for tarts and pies, as I found out when I tried it in this olive oil crust.
Although I still have to work out the proportion of the filling, since my first attempt yielded a tasty, but rather thin, sparse tart (Hubby called it 'apple pizza'), it's clear to me that a few extra apples and this would be a magnificent dessert.
The crust is not flaky, but rather crisp and offers a great foil against the apples. I'm sure it would stand up to your wettest fillings (think blueberry, or rhubarb, it is almost that time of year).
What I love the most about it, is it's fast and easy to put together. It takes all of the intimidation factor out of pastry making.
Here it is:
125 grams all purpose flour
125 grams of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup cold water
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
Note:if you don't have a kitchen scale, the flour is about a cup of each kind.
Mix the flour together, add in brown sugar and mix well. Next add the olive oil and mix to create a fine crumb. Next add the water a little at a time, incoporating as you go. The dough should come together fairly easily. Don't over mix it.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to fit your tart pan (this will work with an 11 to 12 inch pan). Press into pan and chill for 30 minutes or more.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line pan shell with parchment paper and pie weights (or dried beans). Blind bake for 30 minutes.
Now it's ready to fill your favourite topping.
I took 4 Red Prince Apples, drizzled them with some olive oil and sprinkled generouslyl with brown sugar (1/4 cup). I heated the mixture in a pan, until the apples released some of their liquid and started to soften.
Arrange the apples in the tart shell. Brush lightly with more olive oil and sprinkle with 2 tbsp granulated sugar. Bake until apples get a golden brown appearance.
You could use more apples, and in fact, I would recommend it. This tart was really thin. I would double the above ingredients for the filling.
Reader Comments (5)
Your recipe sounds delicious! YUM. AK
I plan on trying this over the weekend! Sounds awesome:-)
Sounds great Jen and AK. Let me know how it worked for you!
Actually I like the idea of the very thin tart. My kid who LOVES fresh apples doesn't particularly like them cooked. If I give him apple pie he will gnaw away the crust and not eat the filling. So he would be more likely to eat a thin tart that looks like pizza, especially if I told him it was "apple pizza", a combination of 2 of his favourite words. :-)
Your crust recipe is quite healthy (ww flour, olive oil....). Is it reasonably flaky? I am not a pie crust expert, I thought you needed real fat like butter or shortening for pie crust. I'll try your olive oil version when I buy some more apples, and see what it's like. It looks good in the picture.
Hi Lucy,
This is not really a "flaky" crust. It is quite *ahem* sturdy. It is crisp, which is why you should roll it out thinly. I find it a nice contrast, but it definitely not your traditional crust. When I'm trying to get a more standard pie crust I usually go straight for butter though. It has a better flavour, and if you're gonna eat fat, why not have the good stuff! ;)