More apples, apples, apples.

Sometimes after a week of many hours at work, you just feel like doing some cozy things in the kitchen. Obviously one of my favourite things to do is read cookbooks so as I was going through one of the best - Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. I first came across a picture for Polish Apple Tart, which was lovely and gorgeous. So I flipped to the recipe to find that it seemed rather feasible for 9 PM on a Saturday night. So here it is. This pastry is not flaky, but it's delicious and supports the chunky apple puree very nicely.



Szarlotka (Polish Apple Tart), recipe adapted from Richard Sax's Classic Home Desserts

Dough:
1 2/3 cup AP flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons butter melted or oil
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and then make a well in the middle of them. Combine the egg, butter or oil, milk and vanilla into a small bowl and then pour this into the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until a soft dough comes together. Refrigerate this for at least an hour.

Filling:
6 large apples - I used all McIntosh and it turned out just lovely. I think you could use any nice cooking apple here or as the author suggests, 3 McIntosh and 3 Granny Smiths. So balance tart and sweet apples.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (not called for originally but I figured what could it hurt? ;)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spices - I used 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Place the apples and butter in a large saute pan over medium heat, and cover until the apples start to sizzle. Then increase the heat slightly and stirring frequently, cook the apples until they are very tender, about 20 minutes. Add the sugar and spices and then smoosh the apples with the back of the spoon. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan and pat about 2/3 of the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Spread the filling over the dough.

Using either parchment or wax paper, place the dough on a floured surface and pat it out until about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut 3/4 inch wide strips and carefully lift the strips of dough with a spatula and arrange them in a lattice pattern on top of the filling.

If you want, you can sprinkle the tart with some granulated sugar and then pop it into the oven to bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, until the dough is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Fantastic with coffeeeee.