French Apple Tart

A gorgeous 'tarte aux pommes' with frangipane baked in a flaky, sour cream and butter crust (new recipe!) + the best jam hand-pies you can make from scraps

Hello, everyone!

I’ve been working on a new pie dough for the last couple of weeks and posting pastries that I’ve made with it on my Instagram account (some photos below). I like it better than the cream cheese dough, and I’ve made a notation on the Recipe Index to that end—it’s more pliable, flakier, and easier to crimp and work with.

With the egg shortage in the U.S. right now, I’ll be concentrating on recipes with little to no eggs. Today’s tart recipe has a single egg in the frangipane (if you don’t use the optional egg glaze), which is a great filling to have in your repertoire for tarts and galettes. Frangipane is made with almond flour, sugar, and egg; a thin layer adds a delicious cake-like base, protecting the bottom crust from fruit juices while baking, ensuring a crisp crust. You’ll often see French tarts lined with jam first, then a layer of frangipane, with fresh or baked fruit on top—it’s also the filling used for almond croissants and bostock.

I was researching apple tarts in general when I came upon a post by David Lebovitz from seven years ago entitled The Best Apple Tart in Paris, where he stumbled upon this award-winning baker’s version of Tarte Normande. Further digging turned up an article in Le Parisien with a video! I love reverse engineering and reconstructing recipes, and was able to glean enough from my very rusty French and drawing from my own time working in France, how M. Teillet made his tarte—flaky pastry topped with a layer of frangipane and sliced apples, and finished with a glaze of melted butter, sugar, egg, and Grand Marnier (I use Calvados, per my preference for the apple brandy, but use what you like). I’ve never come across this glaze method, which surprised me considering the early classical training I’ve had along with being a stagiaire (unpaid intern) in the south of France. I checked all of my cookbooks as well, and rien! Maybe I missed something in translation that someone with a better command of the language can pick up from the video?

Interestingly, M. Teillet calls his creation tarte Normande, which almost always refers to an apple tart with a custard poured over the fruit before baking—unlike Americans, the French rarely stray from regionally-named, well-known recipes. Also: I realize calling this a ‘French Apple Tart’ is like saying ‘Italian pasta’, considering there are hundreds of apple tart variations in France, but I’m following in the Boulangeres du Grand Paris vein who bestowed the prize to M. Teillet under Tarte aux Pommes, and let my post’s subtitle tell the rest of the story.

I’ve included my version of this glaze because it’s so interesting, but really, it’s much more common to serve this kind of tart either plain or with a bit of apricot glaze brushed on after baking, and all things being equal, I’d rather save the egg.

photo, David Lebovitz

Hand pies: Scraps make a fantastic hand pie, and you’d be hard pressed to know it’s made from re-rolled dough. Just roll out to pie thickness, spread with your favorite jam, sandwich, crimp, and bake. Glaze for hand pies: I love a glaze of just water and sugar—it gives the crust a beautiful, crackly appearance like that looks like ice. Simply brush dough with water, evenly dust with granulated sugar, and bake at 400f. For an extra crackly crust, brush and sugar twice.

Sour cream pie dough process (glaze at end is optional)

Hand pie with apricot jam, baked in a long rectangle and glazed with water and sugar before baking

Tools you may need:

• I really like this OXO scale

• for a 9-inch tart ring, without a removable bottom, this one is a good choice

• for a traditional 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom

• I’ve been trying out this Nordic Ware half-sheet, 2-pack and like them

• My favorite apple corer by OXO