TWD: Tarte Fine

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was selected by my good buddy Leslie of Lethally Delicious: tarte fine.  It’s a really simple, yet elegant dessert – essentially a layer of puff pastry topped with sliced apples, which are brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with sugar.  The magic happens in the oven, where the pastry puffs and browns to reveal its flaky layers and the apples soften and brown around the edges slightly.  When the tart emerges, you can brush it with a bit of thinned apricot preserves (or really any flavor you want to pair with apples, for that matter) to add a little shine, but it’s definitely optional.  Either way, I think you’ll love this tart just as much as I did and because it’s so easy to whip up, you can make it again and again!

This is the first of many apple recipes that is sure to emerge from my kitchen this fall, and I’d really hoped to make it to the orchard this past weekend to pick some apples in preparation for all the baking.  Unfortunately, we got busy and never made it there, but it’s on the agenda for next weekend for sure.    Instead, I grabbed a few Golden Delicious apples from the store to make the tarte fine.  Dorie recommended Golden Delicious for the recipe, but my fellow bloggers used lots of different varieties of apples this week so you can certainly go with your favorite.  It doesn’t happen often, but I didn’t scale back the recipe at all this week because, in my opinion, you simply can’t have too much flaky puff pastry with baked apples.  The tart is definitely best warm from the oven, but I thought it was still delicious the following day (I reheated it briefly in the microwave).  Also, I used store-bought puff pastry this week because I was short on time, but next time I make this tart I hope it includes homemade puff pastry.  I’ve made a quick version a few times and I always think it tastes better than the store-bought versions I’ve tried, though admittedly I’m splitting hairs as I don’t know that “bad” puff pastry exists 🙂

Many thanks to Leslie for hosting this week!  You can find the recipe (as well as some really great tips) over on her blog or on page 315 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.