Maman’s Apple Tart

Ingredients

Dough

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg, broken into a small bowl and beaten with a fork
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
• Pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons hot milk

Filling

• 4 large Golden Delicious apples (about 2 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, broken into pieces

Method

1. For the Dough: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put all the dough ingredients except the hot milk into a bowl. Stir well with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to combine. Add the hot milk, and stir until well mixed. Do not overwork. The dough will be very soft. Place it in a 9-inch pie plate (my mother used a fluted metal quiche pan) and, using your fingers and a little extra flour to keep them from sticking, press the dough into the pan until it covers the bottom and the sides.
2. For the Filling: Peel, core, and halve the apples. Cut each half into 1½-inch wedges. Arrange the wedges on the dough like the spokes of a wheel. Sprinkle with the sugar, and top with the butter, broken into pieces.
3. Bake the tart for approximately 1 hour, or until the crust is golden. Serve it lukewarm.

Notes

This apple tart was a staple at Le Pélican, and my mother would prepare two or three every day. For Roland’s wedding, she must have made one dozen. Most of the guests preferred her tarts to the elaborate croquembouche wedding cake, a tower of caramel. glazed cream puffs covered with spun sugar. Maman’s method of making dough breaks all the rules that I learned professionally.

Using hot milk? Stirring the dough with a spoon? Smearing it into the pie plate? Yet it comes out tender, crumbly, and light in texture, with a delicate taste.