Apple Custard Tart

Frangipane is the apple of my eye! # 192: Apple Custard Tart

I have a terrible habit. A terrible apple habit, specifically. Whenever I’m in the produce section of a grocery store, I reach for the same two kinds of apples: Golden Delicious and Fuji. With a golden delicious, you’ve got the bright, crisp movie star apple who isn’t afraid to star in sangria, a fancy cheeseboard or a coffeecake. Fuji is the more down-to-earth, versatile powerhouse who loves a good salad, panini or scoop of peanut butter. They cover all the bases!

I know it seems like apples are the point of this tart, but really it’s the frangipane. It’s a rich baked almond custard with the perfect mellow sweetness to compliment bright! Frangipane is the wing woman you’ve always wanted.

Using both almond extract and almond flour, it’s a double whammy of nutty goodness (that’s a phrase I never saw myself typing…)

Anywho… no matter what the season is, it’s the perfect base for shining a spotlight on tart fruits, like rhubarb, apricots, plums and nectarines.

Instead of a shortcrust pastry base, this recipe called for a classic pie dough. I was a little skeptical at first (you know how I LOVE shortcrust) but the crispness it added was a nice contrast for the custard.

In the most classic of baking compromises, this crust called for both butter and shortening. Butter brings the flavor with its caramelized milk solids, while shortening allows for a crisper, stronger construction.

More fun facts are that shortening has a higher melting point so it’s supposed to be easier to work with (not sure how true that is during a heatwave anyway, oops) and it’s 100% fat. Butter on the other hand, is usually around a fifth water, which evaporates in the oven pushing the dough into light layers. Science is fun, y’all.

This is one of the easiest baking situations to make the switch from plastic wrap to a snazzy beeswax cloth. Does the same thing, but LESS PLASTIC. Hell yeah. Also, way cuter, if I do say so myself.

Big news: this is the first time the roll-it-over-the-rolling-pin-to-transfer-the-dough-without-breaking-it shenanigan has worked for me! Not a single tear (of the rip variety or the salt water kind.)

Oh hello there.

Bring on the baking beans. (Full disclosure – I forgot to poke the dough with a fork a few times to allow the air to escape and had a liiiittle puffing in the middle, despite this army of pie weights.)

Custard time! The shaved almonds are only for garnish but they didn’t want to be left out of the photoshoot.

Yum.

I had let all the excess pie crust droop over the edge while baking so it wouldn’t shrink down too far, but it just looked crazy when it came out of the oven! Though I’d rather have crazy droops of crust that can be trimmed off, than tart sides that shrink down to nothing.