An Aromatic Apple Tart

Hope you are keeping well in these times of social isolation. I hope that through this blog I can reach out to an audience and we can engage in some projects together from a safe distance! Sewing, gardening, and cooking are all on the agenda so I hope you can connect with us in this way. And boy, am I ever missing connecting with friends, family, students, colleagues and other community members. Social media has played an important part of feeling like I'm still connected to local and global community. So let's get started!!!!

First we bake.

A Rustic Apple Tart

We are adjusting to life in the time of Corona.  Everyone has ways of getting through the days of careful isolation. Some people are cleaning, organizing, alphabetizing. Others are exercising, binge watching, and cocooning. Some folks are getting outdoors to escape and find solace in nature. How are you coping? I am gardening and baking. I have waged battle on the weeds in my back yard and attack them with renewed fury every day. It’s satisfying and cathartic. And every day I make comfort food: crêpes, soup, and pies.

The pie quest began on pi day, the day when nerdy folks celebrate the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. You know, the 3.14 etc etc etc. I saw someone make a really lovely pie on social media. His name is Jeff, and he has awesome pie crust skills. (I, on the other hand, have terrible fancy crust skills, so beginners can use this recipe too.)  He inspired me to clean out some of last summer’s fruit from the freezer and made something comforting and fun. Which I did. But today, I've got to use some apples that are getting a bit mealy.

My piecrust recipe is simple and basic:

1      1 cup unbleached white flour

1/8  c stone ground spelt flour

½ tsp salt

½ cup cold butter, cut into 1 cm cubes

After you’ve mixed the dry ingredients, cut in the butt and mix until it is in pea-sized pieces. (I actually use my hands for this, but real chefs use pastry cutters.) Now add the water and stir with a fork until it’s well mixed. See if it’s too wet or dry and add a bit more flour or water accordingly. Now get your hands in there and combine the dough until it is a nice firm ball. Work it as little as possible. Once you’ve done this a few times, you get a sense of when it’s right. Then pop this in a bowl in the fridge with a tea towel on top.

Now you deal with the fruit. You can use just about any fruit to make a rustic tart. Berries are easiest because they don’t require prep. You can add sugar to taste. I try to put in just enough to make the flavor of the fruit sing. As I was using apples, I cored them using a device my mom gave me one Christmas. It’s one of the few single task kitchen gadgets that’s worth the cupboard space. It cores the apple and sliced it so you can easily peel the slices. You may prefer just doing that with a paring knife. I used six medium apples. I sliced the apples into smaller piece, but you can leave them in slices if you like. This recipe is very forgiving and easy to customize. I mixed the apples with 3 tbs sugar, 1 sp cinnamon and ½ tsp ground cardamon.

Preheat the over to 400 Degrees F.

Now it’s time to flour the surface of your counter and roll out the dough. I use the stone-ground spelt because then the dough picks up a nice grainy texture. Just keep rolling it out in a rough circle and don’t worry about the oddly shaped edge. Once the dough is 1/8 of an inch thick, get your pan and lay in out on top. (You can fold the dough gently to transfer it. I use a round “pizza stone” because it bakes nice and evenly.  I spread 2 tbs of the spelt flour onto the middle of the crust to soak up some of the apple juices as the tart bakes.

So I’m not fancy, I just pour the apple bits in the middle of the crust and spread them out to a desired thickness, eyeballing the edges of the crust which your are going to fold up and over the fruit. You can pull it right together or leave a large opening in the middle—just experiment and see which style you prefer.

Put the pie in the oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 F and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes.

You’ll smell that classic scent of sugary cinnamon goodness when the pie is ready. Just check to see if the crust is browned to your liking and then take the pie out and let it cool for ten to fifteen minutes before you serve it. When I was growing up, mom always served apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I like it with whipped cream and a hot cup of black tea. This pie also goes great with masala chai.

You could also use this idea to make savoury pies as well—the kind of clean-out the fridge pie where you can transform leftover steamed veggies into a savoury rustic tart. Our family is transitioning to going vegan, so in the coming days I’ll try some alternative recipe, but this one is my current go-to standard.

I would love it if you would share what recipes are getting you through the days of isolation and would love to connect and perhaps make a recipe book from people’s contributions. Then when the quarantine is lifted, we could have a potluck!!!

You can e-mail me beespeaker(at)gmail(dot)com or just put a link to your own social media posts about what you’re making and baking. I am @beespeaker on Instagram.

Bee well!