Irish Apple Tart

Today is Pi day. The math nerd in me rejoices (on today as well as on Mole Day. Scientists, you get me), but the baker in me is underwhelmed. I don’t really like pie, so I don’t see a reason to celebrate it in my house. When is cake day? What about tart day? Because today I’ve got an Irish Apple Tart and I’m not sure where it fits.

In any case, Cake > Tart> Pie.

You can read more of my thoughts on the subject here, specifically in regards to fruit pie.

Anyway, not only is it Pi Day, but today Chicago also celebrates St. Patrick’s Day. If you didn’t know, Chicagoans take this very seriously and it’s a day that is as crazy as marathon day when it seem that everything civilized in society shuts down and everyone is out in the streets. The difference is, these fools are all drunk.

Was that harsh? Sorry, I think I’m  just old and my day drinking days ended around 7 years ago for my one and only crazy Chicago St. Patrick’s Day where I went out to breakfast with some friends and ended up accidentally playing flip cup for four hours. Whoops. See, I wasn’t’ always a stick in the mud. To prove it to you, I’m bring you this Irish Apple TART. Okay admittedly when you read this recipe, and see the pictures, the distinction is quite negligible, but I had to make this for an article I’m writing for the Chicago Foodseum, and figured it was indeed delicious enough that you would all benefit from exposure.

The recipe comes to me from Imen and her blog, I Married an Irish Farmer. Yes, it is as cute as it sounds.  While part of me loves the hustle and bustle and craziness of city life, a small part of me dreams of a life far outside one, maybe on a farm somewhere in Vermont where I can grow things and eat all the fresh Ben and Jerry’s I want. Maybe I’m just romanticizing that sort of life in my head, but if I am, the Farmette is doing nothing to squash it.

When I contact her about a recipe for St. Patrick’s Day, she was generous enough to share her mother-in-law Peggy’s recipe for her Irish Apple Tart.  Not being an apple pie person herself, she found herself blown away.  I can’t disagree.  For more on this blog from the Farmette, check out her recipe for brown bread. 

The one thing that makes this weird different- it’s baked on a plate. Yup, a plate. Like, a dinner plate. Not sure if mine were oven proof, I bought one from Sur la Table.  If you attempt this plate method, do make sure yours can handle the heat. You wouldn’t want to end up crying over a cracked plate.  Also, be careful since a plate does not have a lip. Your tart might just slide right off!

So, while I will almost always choose cake over pie, I for sure didn’t turn this away. Or stop myself from shoveling that warm, whipped creamed slice in my mouth the second I was done taking pictures.

So, if you like, Happy Pi Day. If you don’t, remember, this is a tart.

Irish Apple Tart

Imen McDonnell

Grandma Peggy's recipe for an Irish Apple Tart on a Plate - Authentic Irish apple tart with homemade flaky pastry and baked on a plate rather than a traditional shell

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Irish

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

For the pastry

• 3.5 cups (500g )All-Purpose Flour
• ⅔ cup (120g) granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups (320g) unsalted butter cold
• pinch salt
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling

• 2 ½ - 3 cups apples thinly sliced (I did not peel mine)
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ lemon juiced
• 1 TB grated fresh ginger

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
• Mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and let sit 30 minutes.
• Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and cut the butter into pieces, working it into the flour with your fingers (alternatively, I used the dough blade on my food processor).
• Make a well in the center of the flour and add the egg, yolks and vanilla. Stir with a fork to incorporate evently until you have to begin to use your hands.
• Quickly bring the dry and wet ingredients together with your hands. On a floured surface, knead the dough for a few minutes, divide into two equal pieces, and roll each into 1/4-1/2 inch thickness.
• Place the first, bottom pastry on the plate. Fill with apples and then carefully place the other pastry over the filling. Make three slits on top.
• Bake for about 1- 1/2 hours until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.

Notes

Adapted from Farmette

Keyword fruit dessert