Apple and Dried Fruit Tart

Source

Here and there. Good source of ideas for pies is the Joy of Baking site.

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5) 

Ingredients

For the crust

- 1 1/2 cups/ 200 g all purpose flour (675 cal)

- 1/2 cup/ 110 g unsalted butter or margarine (815 cal)

- 2 tbsp sugar (90 cal)

- 2 tbsp honey (120 cal)

- 1/2 cup ice water 

- egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water + 1 tsp sugar) - you will not need the full amount

For the filling

- 2 large tart apples (180 cal)

- 1 cup orange juice (120 cal)

- 1/4 cup fresh cranberries (15 cal)

- 10 prunes (200 cal)

- 10 dried apricots (250 cal)

- 1 tbsp citrus zest

Total 2465 cal, 12 servings, 205 cal/serving

Instructions

1. For the crust: Place the flour and the sugar in food processor, mix for 30 seconds on low speed. Add chilled butter 1 tbsp at a time while the processor is on. Then gradually pour the honey and the water, keep mixing until the dough just comes together. Remove the dough from the food processor, form a ball, wrap in a plastic paper and refrigerate for an hour.

2. Once the dough is chilled, grease a 9 inch pie pan. Divide the dough into 2 parts: about 2/3 of the dough for the base, and about 1/3 for the top. This dough is surprisingly easy to roll, you don’t even need much extra flour to prevent it from sticking. Roll the base part into a 12 inch circle, place it in the pie pan, with your fingers press it to the bottom and the sides, so that it takes the shape of the pan. Cut the excess dough. Pierce the bottom of the pastry with a fork to prevent it from puffing up when it bakes. Cover with plastic wrap and let chill until the pie is ready to be baked. Roll out the other piece into a 10 inch circle. You can cut the circle in strips with a pizza cutter if you want to create a grid or weave them around each other.  Place this dough in the refrigerator to chill as well.

3. In the meantime preheat the oven to 425F. 

4. Peel, core and slice the apples into 1/8 inch thick slices. In a medium sized frying pan, pour orange juice and cook the apples and the cranberries on medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the apples are soft and the juice is almost completely absorbed. Chop the dried fruit and add them to the apples for the last 5 minutes. 

5. Place the apple mix into the pie pan lined with pastry. Arrange the upper crust on top of the fruit. If you leave it in one piece, slash the top with the knife to allow the steam to escape. Brush the top crust with egg wash (do not drip the egg wash over the fruit filling, it will look like a cooked egg). You can also replace egg with milk, if you prefer. This wash creates the glossy look. 

6. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and firm. 

7. Allow to cool in the pie pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let the pie cool on a rack for about an hour. 

Afterthoughts

- The filling is great, I might skip the cranberries: the apples are already tart, and the orange zest and juice are a bit sour, so the cranberries are not necessary. 

- The dough was surprisingly easy to handle, and turned out very nice. Next time I might make it a little sweeter, maybe use 2 more tbsp of sugar or honey. I am also not a big fan of the top crust, so next time I’ll skip it. This way I could only use 2/3 of the dough and save quite a few calories.