Apple and Cinnamon Rose Tart

Apple and Cinnamon Rose Tart

A delicious and beautiful apple tart, with a hint of cinnamon.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 125g plain flour
• 35g icing sugar
• 60g cold butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp water

Filling:

• 5 to 6 apples 
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 10g unsalted butter
• 30g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Apple Roses:

• 2 green apples
• 2 red apples 
• Juice of half a lemon
• Bowl of water
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

(For the apples, it is best to use a firm apple, like a Granny Smith or Cox variety.)

Method:

1. In a blender, blitz together the flour, icing sugar and butter until it forms a breadcrumb consistency. You can do this by hand it will just take longer, and you want to avoid the butter melting into the flour! Add the egg yolk and blitz again until it starts to clump. If you need a bit more liquid, add the water until the dough comes together and you can form it into a ball.
2. Rest the pastry in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
3. Roll the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface to around 4mm thick.
4. Line a 7 or 8 inch tart tin with the pastry, and press down gently on the bottom and sides, trimming off any excess pastry.
5. Use a fork to stab a few holes in the bottom and place in the fridge for another 30 minutes. By chilling the pastry before baking it, it reduces how much it will shrink in the oven.
6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190C (fan).
7. Once chilled, blind bake the pastry with baking beans for 15 minutes, remove the baking beans, and bake for a further 5 minutes or so until the base is a slight golden brown.
8. Meanwhile, make the filling.
9. Peel, core and chop the apples and heat then in a saucepan over a medium heat with the lemon juice until they are soft. 
10. Mash up the apples and stir in the butter, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix until fully combined. 
11. Tip the apple mixture into the tart, smoothing it out, and then prep the apples for the roses. 
12. Chop the red and green apples in half, cut out the core, and then thinly slice them horizontally (the thinner they are, the easier they will be to roll into the rose shape!) 
13. Place the slices in a bowl of water with the lemon juice and microwave for 5 minutes until the slices are soft and pliable. 
14. Drain the apple slices, and starting with the red slices, roll one slice to form the centre of the rose. Keep folding the other slices around to form the petals and keep going until it becomes difficult to hold in your hand. 
15. Place the rose into the apple filling which should support it and keep it in shape. If necessary, add some more 'petals' by placing more slices around it. 
16. Once the roses are in place, use the green slices as leaves to fill in any gaps around the edges. You can customise this to have more petals, or more leaves, however you like! You could always arrange them in concentric circles to create one giant rose! 
17. Bake for another 10-15 minutes at 180 C (fan) or so until the edges of the apple are slightly golden.
18. Dust with icing sugar! 
19. This tart is delicious warm, so either serve straight away, or warm it before serving. It is so delicious with some ice cream too!  
20. Enjoy!

Head to my Instagram @alice.fevronia for a video on how to make this tart, and if you give it a go, please tag me as I'd love to see!