I have been making this dessert for many years.  It is an ideal finish to a fall dinner, delicately sweet and so seasonal.  The addition of honey in the crust is so delicious and helps yield a soft cookie like crust for the grated apples.  The original recipe is from a Bon Appetit Magazine in 2006.  It has all the elements of an apple pie, but slices much more neatly and makes for a beautiful presentation.  I always substitute vodka for the water in the crust, a trick I learned from Coo’s Illustrated which reacts with the gluten in the flour and helps to yield a crispier crust.  The streusel on top is delicate and crispy.  I recently decided to make the tart in small, individual tartlette pans.  They were so cute and made for a great presentation.  I served with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, thinly shaved apple slices on topand a sprinkle of cinnamon!  So good!

Serves 8-12, 1 large 10 inch tart pan or 8 individual 2″ tartlettes

Ingredients:

Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I love Bob’s Red Mill pastry flour)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon iced vodka

Streusel:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Filling:

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
  • 4 cups (packed) grated Gala, Jonagold, or Winesap apples (about 4 large apples)

Directions:

for crust:

In a food processor with pastry blade attached, pulse flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter and pulse mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. Whisk honey, yolks, and  vodka in a bowl. Add honey mixture to flour mixture, and again pulse for about a minute or more until clumps form and dough begins to gather. Collect dough and shape into a disk and flatten. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

Roll dough out on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 10-inch tart pan, sprayed with cooking spray with removable bottom. (Alternatively, divide dough in 8 equal portions if making individual tarlettes and roll dough into 3 inch rounds). Press dough onto bottom and up sides of pan, using any overhang to press into rims, to make edges even.  Press in old overhang in to form a uniform layer. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

for streusel:

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Using fingertips, begin to rub butter clumps into flour to distribute.  Continue this process until butter clumps into pea-size clumps crumbles. Refrigerate streusel while preparing filling.

for filling:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add grated apples and stir to coat and add lemon juice. Transfer to apple mixture to prepared crust, spreading evenly in large tart pan or individual tartlettes. Sprinkle streusel evenly over top. Bake until streusel is golden and filling is bubbling, 50-60 minutes. Tart can be served warm or at room temperature.  Serve with ice cream and garnish with shaved apple and a hint of cinnamon if desired.