A Simple Apple Tart Recipe (for 2!)

I believe that the best desserts are chocolate desserts. I just don’t really get why anyone would ever order a fruit tart over a chocolate cake. Or why some people eat the jam-filled biscuits before the chocolate covered ones. I always eat the chocolate ones first.

And yet this simple apple tart recipe is potentially one of my favorite recipes.

1. Easy: We use bought puff pastry which means that all the hard work is done by someone else
2. Texture: The combination of the soft apples and crunchy pastry is fantastic.
3. Flavor: By cooking half the apple into an apple sauce you get a really strong apple flavor. You can also add spices, sugar, lemon, whatever to the apple sauce to give the tart some extra flavor!
4. Size: You can make this tart for a massive crowd or just two people (which is what I do) and it’s really easy to scale up or down!

For more fall baking ideas, check out my apple pancake recipe or my recipe for apple cider donuts!

We start off with store-bought puff pastry (Trader Joes often has it in the freezer section). Take it out of the freezer and let it defrost while you get your apples ready.

I made a two-person tart so I used just one apple. If you wanted to make a larger tart just count about 1 apple per 2 servings.

Peel the apple and finely slice half of it while you dice the rest. Set the slices aside and start making the apple sauce.

To make a quick apple sauce simply toss the diced apple in a small saucepan and add enough water to halfway cover the apples (i.e. the depth of the water should come half of the depth of the apples).

Throw in any spices you like or do what I did and add half a teaspoon of sugar and the zest of half a lemon. In terms of spices, you could add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, maybe a pinch of nutmeg or some brown sugar. It’s up to you!

Cover the pan and simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring every minute or so. You want the apples to be soft such that you can break them up if you press your spoon into them. Once they’re soft uncover the pan and let cook until all of the water has evaporated off completely and the sauce is starting to dry out a little bit. Set the sauce aside.

Next, you want to roll out your puff pastry and cut a piece that’s about 8 inches by 5 inches. If you used more apples than you want a piece of pastry that is large enough for you to spread all of your apple slices over. You can roll the rest of the pastry back up and stick it in the freezer again.

Now you get to assemble! Just spread out the apple sauce so it’s in an even layer. Make sure you leave 1/2 an inch or so of pastry on the edges. Grab the apples and layer them over the sauce in whatever pattern you like and then brush the edges of the pastry with milk to help it brown nicely. Finally, I like to sprinkle over some sugar (ideally something like demerara) to give it a bit of crunch.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry has risen and is nicely browned. Eat your gorgeous tart and feel awed by how happy a simple apple tart recipe can make you.