Receta Stary Browar Apple Tart
This was my second effort to recreate an apple tart sampled, almost accidentally, in a little pastry shop in Stary Browar (Old Brewery) Mall in Poznań, Poland.
We were in the mall, late one evening; some shops were already closing. We weren't quit ready to return to our hotel, so we shared a slice of an apple tart and watched the crowds go by. (My husband had read that some of the best apple pie in the world can be found in Poznań, so we sampled a lot of apple pie in search of the best - even extending our search to Berlin).
Before we finished it, we knew that this tart was one that we'd want to have again. I'm glad that we started to analyze and make note of it's construction because it wasn't available on subsequent trips, and the bakery has since become a Starbucks.
Ingredients
for crust
- 1/2 cup almond slices
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, chilled
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- for filling
- 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- apricot preserves
- 1 tube marzipan
Directions
for crust
Preheat oven to 350. Spread almond slices out in baking sheet. Bake about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
In food processor, with steel blade, process toasted almonds and sugar, until finely ground.
Add flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Process just a few seconds to combine.
With processor running, add butter one tablespoon at a time, run until incorporated.
Add egg yolk.
This should provide enough moisture to make the ingredients come together in a ball of dough. Pat dough into a 9 inch buttered tart pan.
Prick dough with fork, bake about 20 minutes at 350. Cool.
for filling
In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon.
Simmer until apples are tender but still holding their shape. (I usually like to use two kinds of apples in a pie, but the softer, sweeter apples tended to go mushy, so I'm sticking to Granny Smiths with this tart.)
Drain apples.
Place apples in crust.
Heat apricot preserves. (I ended up using about half of a 23 oz. jar.)
Strain preserves, generously brush this hot, thin, apricot jelly over the apples.
Roll out marzipan to 1/8 inch; cut into long thin strips.
Top apples with a marzipan lattice, made by laying out the strips in a criss-cross pattern.
Broil or brown with a torch until the marzipan just begins to change color.
Chill until serving.
Thanks to Petit Chef for featuring this recipe in their menu of the day on 12/31/09!