We had a surfeit of cooking apples from Sal’s dad. It seemed a shame not to use them so I had a crack at an apple slice. I surprised myself, it was very tasty and relatively simple to make. I think I subliminally picked it up from a Saturday morning (or similar) cooking programme (credit where credit is probably due). As I write this during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, I wish I had some cooking apples to hand – sadly it’s a bit early. Anyway, give it a go when you get your hands on some CA’s!
You need a pack of puff pastry (or make it but you need to be some sort of mentalist to do that), some cooking apples, some eating apples, a little sugar and some butter.
Peel and chop the cooking apples. Put them in a saucepan, add a little water, bring it to the boil and then simmer until the apples are soft and mushy. Add a little sugar to take away the tartness (to suit your taste) and then simmer again to reduce it down to a jam-like consistency. Allow it to cool.
Cut the eating apples into thin wedges with skin on and no core.
Role out the pastry so that it just fits on your biggest oven tray. Lay it out on greaseproof paper on the tray and then use a fork to cover the surface of the pastry with little holes. This allows the air to escape when the party cooks and it doesn’t puff up! (I suppose it begs the question – why use puff pastry?).
Spoon the cooking apple pulp onto the pastry and liberally spread it all over.
Arrange the eating apples on top as per the pic(s) and pop it in a pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for about 30 mins until the pastry looks cooked – or slightly burnt in my case…. oops!.
Remove from the oven and brush melted butter across the top to glaze the tart. Allow to cool for c 30 mins and then cut into 12 pieces (less if you are feeling cheeky!). Serve with Cornish clotted cream or ice cream. I ate a few slices and then froze the rest between grease proof paper. They are a really easy snack or dinner desert. Just pop them from frozen in the oven at 180 deg C for about 10 mins and you can “voila” your guests.
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