Name: French Apple Tart
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 tablespoon sugar; 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced; 1/2 cup ice water; 4 Granny Smith apples; 1/2 cup sugar; 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small-diced; 1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam (see note); 2 tablespoons Calvados, rum, or water

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French Apple TartCookbook cover image courtesy of Random House

This just might be my all-time favorite dessert. It's the simple essence of sweet apples and crisp pastry with no distractions. We've all collected several similar recipes over the years, but this is the best one I've ever made. If I need to make it even faster, I use defrosted frozen puff pastry instead of making the crust (see note), but you'll want to eat it an hour or two after it comes out of the oven.

Notes:

For a really fast apple tart, you can use one sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted. Roll out to 10x10 inches and then proceed with the apples.

Recipe notes

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