It’s SEPTEMBER guys. This year has honestly flown by, buttt I can’t lie. I’m pretty happy to be heading into Autumn. Its my favourite time of year baking wise, there’s just so many wonderful ingredients to play with. Apples, cinnamon, pecans, pears, maple…I could go on! So to kick off September my first autumnal recipe HAD to be apple related. And ta dahh, the Spiced Apple Rose Tart was created.
I’ve seen beautiful tarts online for years, where people have created incredible swirled creations with apples and I always wanted to have a go at creating one. Now, I don’t have a mandolin….sooo my apples were not as thin as I would have liked. And therefore my ‘rose’ pattern isn’t quite as tight and swirly as I’ve seen online, but! I’m still so happy with how it turned out. I think I’ve learned that an apple tart like this will be beautiful regardless of how ‘perfect’ it is. It’s beautifully rustic. Which lets be honest, its better than ‘perfect’.
What goes into the spiced apple tart??
So, first up we need to make the base. This couldn’t be simpler, as its a biscuit base. So much easier than pastry and in this case works so well with the filling. I used Lotus Biscoff biscuits crushed up, mixed with melted butter and packed into a 9inch pie tin. This is then baked for 10minutes in the oven to help bind the base together. Now I’m gonna be honest right now. This tart is super pretty to look at when whole, but it doesn’t hold together perfectly as a slice. So take your pictures before you dig in 😉
Next up we need to make the spiced apple puree/sauce that goes into the base of the tart. This again is super simple. To be honest, the whole tart is pretty easy to put together but looks really impressive! These are definitely my favourite kind of bakes to create ;). So all the ingredients go into a saucepan and are cooked until the apples are softened and starting to caramelise a little. Honestly, at this point your kitchen is gonna smell AMAZING. Like Autumn in a pan.
Then you need to slice up your apples to be able to create the beautiful rose pattern. If you have a mandolin, this will be super handy as you can make the apples reallyyy thin. But I don’t have one, and just spent some time slicing them. Then you’re ready to pour the puree onto the biscuit base, and then start lining up your apple slices. This will take a little time, but I assure you its very therapeutic! Here’s some key points to beautiful rose pattern success:
- Overlap every single apple slice, as you line them up. This will really help create the ‘rose’ like pattern.
- Start from the outside in, and save your thinnest slice for the middle so you can roll it up to look like a realistic petal.
- Pack your slices in SUPER tightly. You might think you have way more apple slices than you need, but once you’ve finished the pattern go back and slot any extra slices in any gaps. As the tart bakes the apple slices are going to shrink a little, so you want these to be really packed in.
Once you’ve finishing arranging your apple slices, your next step is to dot some butter on top before popping in the oven to bake! The butter helps to give your apples a nice sheen, but also just adds extra delicious buttery flavour! After that, your final step is to glaze the baked tart with apricot jam. This makes your tart look really beautiful and helps keep your apple slices looking fresh.
I’m so happy with how this turned out. The crunchy spiced biscuit base, the caramelly juicy spiced apple puree and the apple slices that still have a little crunch are just SUCH a delicious combination. Its honestly autumn in a slice. And I’m not a fan of custard, but I think a slice of tart in a bowl full of custard will be the perfectttt sunday dinner dessert.
I really hope you give it a try 🙂
On with the recipe!
Spiced Apple Rose Tart
Ingredients
Base:
- 200 g biscoff biscuits
- 65 g unsalted butter melted
Puree:
- 3 medium Royal Gala apples (or Jazz/Braeburn)
- 25 g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp water
- 30 g caster sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Filling:
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 medium Royal Gala apples (or Jazz/Braeburn)
- 1 tbsp light brown soft sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 15 g unsalted butter
Glaze:
- 50 g apricot jam
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- For the base: Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4. Then blitz the biscuits in a food processor until fine crumbs. Then pour in the melted butter and blitz again until the mixture clumps together. Pour this into a 9inch pie tin and using a spoon, evenly press the mixture down and up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes, then set aside.
- For the puree: Peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks and place into a saucepan. Then add the butter, water, caster sugar, cinnamon stick, lemon juice and stir to combine. Place over a medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, breaking up the apples as they start to soften. Keep cooking until the apples start to caramelise, then take off the heat. Discard the cinnamon stick, then mash the apples until they are completely broken down. Then pour into a bowl and set aside.
- For the filling: Place the lemon juice into a medium bowl. Then using either a mandolin or a sharp knife, finely slice the apples (making sure to remove the core!) and place into the bowl, coating in the lemon juice to prevent them going brown. Then pour over the brown sugar and cinnamon, and toss together so the apple slices are evenly coated.
- To assemble: Spread the slightly cooled puree on the base of the tart and slightly up the sides. Then starting from the outside, place the apples slices with the skin side on top in circles, making sure to overlap each slice. Keep going until you reach the middle, and roll one slice to create the centre, Fill in gaps with any remaining apple slices, you want it to be tightly packed. Then dot over the butter, and place in the oven for 40 minutes. The apples will feel tender and the filling will be bubbling.
- With the tart out of the oven, make the glaze by heating the apricot jam and water in a saucepan over a low heat. Once the jam has loosened, use a pastry brush to carefully glaze over the apple slices.
