Company’s Coming – Quick Apple Crumble Tart

Some friends were stopping by this weekend for an impromptu visit and certainly, a sweet nibble was in order.

Remember the pie crust from this post and the crumble from this one? Keep both in your fridge and you’ll always have dessert on hand.

Let’s talk apples for a moment, I love all apples but when it comes to apple desserts I’m a bit finicky about the varietal. For me, texture is everything! You can easily adjust acidity, sweetness and to an extent flavor by making slight modifications.

My most favorite apple to bake with is the Jonagold. They are normally larger than a Royal Gala with a bit more acidity, slightly lower water content and that same lovely floral and slightly perfumed note. Most importantly, they bake up beautifully and hold their shape so your filling doesn’t become a soupy apple mush. No soupy apple centers here.

Nice clean cut slices with perfectly stacked apples.

If you cannot find Jonagolds, try Golden Delicious or Royal Gala.

Apple Crumble Tart

1/2 portion of pie crust (recipe here) – defrosted for 10 minutes
2 cups of crumble (recipe here) – this is generous but no one ever will complain if you have too much crumble

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Filling

3 very large Jonagold apples (2 lbs), peeled, cored and sliced
1/3 cup sugar
5 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Toss together in a medium bowl and set aside as you roll out the dough.

Once the pie dough is warm enough to roll, roll it out to 1/8-1/4 inch thick and line an 8-inch fluted tart pan with a removable base. If your pan is not non-stick, give it a light spray with PAM. Place the tart pan over a foil or parchment-lined baking tray (this is just in case the juices bubble over).

At this point, check on your apples. If a lot of juice has been released, pour almost all of it out and mix through another 1 tsp of corn starch and 1 Tbsp of sugar.

Fill the lined-tart pan with the apple filling. Remove the crumble from the freezer and top your apples with enough crumble so you can no longer see the apples.

Bake in the bottom half of your oven for 40 – 45 minutes until the juices are bubbling and the top of the crumble is golden. Remove from oven and cool for at least an hour before removing the tart from the pan. The cooling time will also allow the filling to set.