Apple Crumble Tarts and Caravan Travel

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Apple Crumble Tarts and Caravan Travel

During Easter and on some long weekends, my parents towed the caravan to Kiama. The south coast of New South Wales in Australia, is a cool and rainy place in March and April .  In the confined space of the caravan my three sisters and I tended to get on each others nerves. There was a bit of pulling hair and a lot of pushing! I remember the dampness and the condensation on small caravan windows, and the sound of the waves hitting a deserted and soggy beach.

The car must have seemed the only respite for them, although 4 children in the back of a car hardly encourages peace. Pinching and elbowing  were common. A very homely bakery at Warilla Mall often proved a relief for them……..our mouths were stuffed and hands occupied.

Even now , so many years after growing up, I can remember what each  person in my family liked. My Mother always loved cream buns, my older sister a vanilla slice the middle sister a neenish tart and the youngest, a sausage roll, Dad always had things we considered to be disgusting like rum balls or marzipan. My weakness was Apple Tarts, and still is, I always feel like Apple Tarts.  The specimens sold at Warrilla Mall were the sort that had pale anaemic pastry on the bottom and apples that were diced, but I was yet to try any thing more upmarket.

This excursion always concluded in K-Mart where we tried our hardest to talk one of our parents into buying us anything….. which never happened

Last week when I was at Brasserie Bread ,  and was inspired by their little apple crumble tarts, the up market version of my childhood visits to Warrilla Mall.

There was never a question that I would cook some of my own.

I was asked to make morning tea for a sales meeting , so this is what they got. My Apple Crumble Tarts, inspired by Brasserie Bread.

Fresh tangy apple and crunchy shortbread crumbs , Yum.

Apple Crumble Tarts

These little tarts have the beauty of both worlds. An apple pie and a crunchy crumble.

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Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: Australian, Baking

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 180 gram butter softened
• 40 gram icing sugar pure, sifted
• 2 whole egg yolks large
• 350 gram plain flour
• 50 gram almond meal
• 25 ml water approx 1 Tblsp

Crumble topping

• 120 gram brown sugar
• 120 gram butter diced
• 160 gram flour

Apple filling

• 3 whole apples medium tart, peeled, diced
• 40 ml water 2 Tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon lemon Juice
• 40 gram caster sugar granulated, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or a vanilla bean

Instructions

• Oven 180 C/ 350 F

Apple filling

• Prepare the apples by tipping into a saucepan with the sugar, water,vanilla and juice. Simmer on very low with the lid on until the apples are soft enough to mash with a fork. Taste, for sweetness (add sugar) or tartness (add lemon juice).Pour into a container and refrigerate to cool.

To make the pastry.

• Beat the butter and icing sugar (powdered sugar) in a mixer till light and creamy
• Add the yolks and beat in.
• Stop the mixer and add the flour, almond meal. Only add just 1/2 of the water if necessary. It will only need the extra water if the mixture is dry and crumbly.
• Mix on very low, until just combined. ( Only If the mixture looks quite dry add the remaining water). Pour on to a bench and push together. The dough should be soft and pliable but not too wet. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.
• Once firm and chilled, roll out to fit 6-8 individual tart cases or 1x 23 cm case. Put back into the fridge to Cool again. 20 minutes.
• Blind bake the pastry filled with pie weights or beans. Approx 15 min. Remove the paper and beans and bake till golden, approximately 10 minutes .

For the crumble.

• Put all the ingredients in the food processor and blitz until just starting to combine. A dry mixture will produce a very dry crumble, so make sure it is buttery and sticking together in clumps.
• Spread the apple into the bottom of the tart case, cover with crumble and pop back into the oven and cook until lightly brown

Tried this recipe?Mention @mykitchenstories or tag #mykitchenstories!

Brasserie Bread 1737 Botany Rd
Banksmeadow
NSW 2019

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