Apple Flowers (individual tarts)

Individual tarts with a crispy streusel base and crowns of apple, enriched with butter and a sweet touch of white sugar.
baked
dessert
vegetarian

Yield: 4 items

Ingredients
Servings
4
Measurement units

Streusel base

  • 50 grsbutter
  • 40 grswhite sugar
  • 40 grsbrown sugar
  • 40 grspastry flour
  • 50 grsalmond flour

Filling

  • 4 Golden apples
  • 20 grsbutter
  • 20 grscane brown sugar
  • 4 cullerades soperesraspberry jam
  • 1/2 lemon (zest)
  • nutmeg or cinnamon
Nutritional Information

Per items

Yield: 4 items

Calories
484 kcal
Protein
5.2 g
Fat
20.9 g
Carbohydrates
69.5 g

Calculated from reviewed ingredient weights and pinned USDA FoodData Central records.

Step-by-step Guide

Streusel Base

Streusel Base
  1. Preheat the oven to 140 ºC with heat from above and below.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the room temperature butter cut into small cubes with the white and brown sugar until you obtain a homogeneous paste.
  3. Add the plain flour and almond flour, and mix the dough with your hands by pinching it, without kneading, until everything is integrated.
  4. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes to make the subsequent work easier.
  5. Place the mold on a flat surface and line it with baking paper so that the paper extends about 2 cm above the sides of the mold to facilitate unmolding.
  6. Grease the baking paper with butter to prevent the dough from sticking.
  7. Once 15 minutes have passed, remove the dough from the freezer and crumble it using a large grater to obtain small lumps (it should not be a fine powder).
  8. Fill the base of the mold with the crumbled streusel, spread it evenly, and gently press with a spoon or spatula to achieve a layer about 3 mm thick.
  9. Bake at 140 ºC for 20 minutes. Check frequently, as it might take up to 30 minutes to achieve a light golden color.
  10. Allow to cool completely before unmolding to ensure it retains its shape.

Stuffing

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC (equivalent to gas mark 6 in France) to prepare it for the apples.
  2. Peel the Golden apples with a sturdy peeler and remove all the skin.
  3. Cut them in half with a sharp knife, and remove the core and seeds with an apple corer or a small knife.
  4. Slice the apples into thin rounds using a mandoline. Reserve the most intact slices to form the flowers.
  5. Boil the more irregular slices in a saucepan with butter, a little water, a splash of Calvados, and a pinch of ground cinnamon until tender (about 5-7 minutes). This mixture will be used to cover the base of the pastry before placing the apple flower on top.
  6. Arrange the apple slices whole side up on a silicone mat or on a strip of parchment paper, overlapping them by about half their diameter.
  7. Melt the butter in the microwave or in a bain-marie, and generously brush the apples with a kitchen brush. Sprinkle them with sugar on top.
  8. Bake the apple slices at 200ºC for 10 minutes, until they are soft to the touch.
  9. Let the slices cool for 10 minutes to harden slightly.
  10. With the cooled slices, roll each strip onto itself to create the shape of a flower.
  11. Cover the base of the streusel with boiled apple or, if you prefer, with raspberry jam, to add flavor and moisture.
  12. Carefully place an apple flower on each streusel base.
  13. Grate a bit of nutmeg (or add ground cinnamon) and lemon zest over the apple flowers to add aroma.
  14. Alternatively, cover the base of the streusel with jam if a sweeter and fruitier taste is preferred.
Original recipe
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    Apple Flowers (individual tarts) | The Catalan Table