Description
Make this easy freeform apple tart, named after Brienne of Tarth for a sweet end to your Game of Thrones viewing party!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
- 4-6 tablespoons ice water
- 1 large egg white, beaten
- 1 teaspoon coarse / turbinado sugar
For the Filling
- 6 medium apples (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith, or a mixture of both)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (about one lemon)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about one lemon)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
For the Crust
- Place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor or large mixing bowl. Pulse in the food processor, or use a pastry blender or your fingers and cut the butter into the flour, until butter is the size of small peas.
- Sprinkle ice water, a tablespoon at a time, over the flour mixture. Pulse or stir mixture until large clumps form.
- When enough water has been added to allow the dough to come together, transfer to a lightly floured work surface and gather the dough into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
- After dough is chilled, preheat oven to 400º F and move the rack to the center position. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, or place a Silpat mat on the sheet pan. On a lightly-floured surface, roll the dough out to a 16-inch round. Transfer the round to the cookie sheet.
For the Filling
- In a large bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, ginger, lemon zest and salt.
- Peel, core and thinly slice apples and add to sugar mixture.
- Toss apples with lemon juice and coat well with the sugar mixture.
Assemble the Tart
- Arrange the apples on the dough, leaving a 3-inch border, in a circular pattern with all the apple slices pointing the same way, working from the outside to the center.
- Fold edge of the dough up around the apples, overlapping the dough when necessary.
- Brush edge of the dough with beaten egg white and sprinkle with coarse / turbinado sugar.
- Place cookie sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake until the crust is golden and apples are fork-tender, about an hour.
- Transfer cookie sheet to a wire rack to cool completely. Slide the tart onto a serving platter, slice into 12 pieces and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- I love to use sweet-tart Honeycrisp apples for this tart, but you can also use Granny Smith apples, or a mixture of both.
- To lighten up the prep time, you can make the dough ahead of time, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.