Apple Tart

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients:

• 500 g puff pastry, rolled and cut into 1 x 30 cms round
• 7 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced as finely as possible
• 150 g butter
• 350 g caster sugar

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 C
• Prick the round of puff pastry with a fork and put it either on a non-stick baking tray or a tray lined with parchment paper.
• Lay the slices of apple first around the outside, overlapping each by about half and using only the perfect slices. Put the trimmings to one side. Put the last slice of apple in each round beneath the first. All the trimmings and ends, slide halfway underneath each round to hold it up. Continue in ever increasing circles until you reach the centre. P
• Put little knobs of butter all over the tart and sprinkle with 250 g sugar
• Put a piece of silicon paper over the top of the tart (the thicker stuff used to line cake tins and trays are good for this) and another tray on top. Press down well and bake the tart with the tray on top for about 25 minutes.
• Lift the tart from the oven, remove the top tray and very gently peel off the paper. The apples should be cooked and there will be a lot of juice around the outside. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
• Bake for a further 15-20 minutes until well caramelised. Just lifting the tart, check that the base is cooked as well.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes before trying to remove the tart from its tray and serve either hot or at room temperature.

Recipe by Alex MacKay and photo by Peter Knab