OMG! Does this look good or what? Our feature #LeckerLeipzig kicks off with one of Alexandra Athanasopoulou’s award winning recipes….seriously! It came in second. Wonder what came in first. No matter, Alexandra’s Tarte aux Pommes et Caramel Beurre Salé is first in our hearts and we’re proud to have it be first in our new column. I bet it will come in first at your house too.
So, I am back from my long summer break with a recipe that is perfect for the autumn weather. First of all it is apple season and this year the summer here in Leipzig was so hot that the apples are really sweet. Secondly, last weekend I participated in a baking competition at the local appelfest. Wanting to win I thought of a recipe that would be a bit different from the traditional Appelkuche that you get here. That’s when I thought of combining apples with salty butter caramel. Even though I didn’t win, the tarte was really delicious.
Best. Tarte. Ever.
INGREDIENTS
Pastry
- 250 g flour
- 100 g powered sugar
- 125 g soft butter
- 1 egg yolk
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tblsp of milk
Caramel beurre salé
- 100 g sugar
- 15 cl cream
- 50 g salted butter
Crème Patissière
- 3 egg yolks
- 100 g sugar
- 1 spoon vanilla extract
- 375 ml milk
- 3 tblsp flour
- 1 ½ tblsp almond powder
- 4 gala apples
PREPARATION
Butter Caramel
First you need to make the salty caramel. You won’t need all the caramel for the tart, but you can put the rest in a jar and eat it with fruit or spread it on bread. Don’t worry. It won’t last long. Cook the sugar in a pot over medium heat. Do not put anything in the pot; no kitchen utensils, no wooden spoons. Once the sugar has melted to a nice brown color, take off the heat and add the warmed cream, then the butter. Put over the heat again and whisk until all the ingredients have dissolved into caramel. Set aside
Pastry
Mix all the ingredients together except for the milk. Once it has become a sort of crumble, add the milk and mix again, but try not to work the dough too much. Shape the dough in a roll and put into cling film in the fridge for a couple of hours. Remove the roll from the fridge cut the dough into discs and place the discs into your pie/tarte pan, welding them together with your hands.
Crème Patissière
Heat the milk. Put the sugar, the egg yolks and the vanilla extract into a bowl and whisk until it turns white. Continue whisking and add the flower and almond powder. Add to the milk. Cook over medium heat and stir using a wooden spoon. Remove from heat once the mix has achieved the creamy consistency that you want.
preheat oven to 180° C
After spreading a generous amount of caramel filling over your pastry, layer the crème patisserie over it, being careful not to mix the two. Top with thinly sliced apples.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes.
Remove from oven. Let it cool and enjoy.