June 9, 2009

TWD- Easy Parisian Apple Tartlets

I never ate a bad pastry in France. Even when buying from the biggest hole in the wall or (something I would never do in America) from a bakery in the metro station, they taste great. The French just know food. And with high quality butter, delicious produce, and simple flavors, you can't go wrong. So I was excited to try this Parisian tart. Unlike the apple pie I made last week that took tons of time chilling, rolling, cutting, etc (with a fabulous end result), the assembly of this dessert took about five or ten minutes (also with a fabulous end result). A brief stint in the oven and out comes a flaky, buttery, and tender dessert. With different fruit options, there's really no limit to this recipe.

Atop La Tour Eiffel
And with all the time you've saved making this wonderful French treat, why not watch a romantic movie with your honey. Or the Lakers game, in our case.

Parisian Apple Tartlets
Adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan

1 sheet cold puff pastry
3 apples, peeled and cored
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cold butter, cut into bits

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Lightly flour a surface and roll the puff pastry out to about an 11 inch square. Using a fluted cookie cutter between 3 and 4 inches wide, cut pastry into about 8 pieces.
(Reserve the scraps, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and bake for a few minutes for a treat for your hungry husband who can’t stand to wait during the photos!)
Cut the apple half into 4 or 5 slices (depending on size) and place three slices on the pastry circle. Sprinkle the apple with 1 or 2 teaspoons brown sugar-depending on how much sweetness you want-and a couple bits of butter.

Bake the tartlet for about 20 minutes (the time will vary depending on how your apple bakes), until the pastry is deeply browned and puffed up around the apple and the apple can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife. If it looks like the tartlets need more sugar on top, sprinkle on a bit more toward the end of the baking time.

Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let the tartlet cool-it's great just a little warm and equally good at room temperature. Serve with ice cream if desired.

33 comments:

  1. These apple tartlets looks too good to be eaten and you guys really look soo good together.

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  2. This simple little treat is perfect for any thing! Looks wonderful, Anne. Hope you are feeling good!

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  3. Your tarts are so cute! They were delicious.
    Cute pic of you and your hubby. Hope all is going well with you this summer!

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  4. I agree they were wonderful! Yours came out perfect :)

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  5. Your tartlets look sooooo cute!

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  6. you ate yours to the Lakers...we ate ours to the Yankees! :) Gotta love a dessert that can easily translate from the dinner table, to the TV table! :)

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  7. I don't know which is sweeter - the lovely tartlets or the loving couple! Well done.

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  8. Beats your regular basketball game fare any day!

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  9. Golly - they're beautiful. Very nicely done.

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  10. I put cinnamon on mine.

    These are fabulous.

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  11. Your tartlets look fantastic! I love the fluted cookie cutter you used to cut the rounds of dough.

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  12. These are fabulous and I even used phyllo shells instead of puff pastry (just for my hips ;). I can't wait to splurge someday and use puff pastry! Awesome.

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  13. *sigh* these do look easy and delicious.. I want to be back on top of the Eiffel Tower with my hubby. Cute tarts!

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  14. I like the cut on your pastry. I wanted to use a small tart pan to cut mine, but was afraid it would not puff right. Next time....

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  15. These turned out just beautifully! Nice work!

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  16. What a cute picture! And your tart looks great!!

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  17. You two are so cute! And so are the tarts. We loved these.

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  18. CUTE picture of you & hubs in front of the Eiffel Tower! Your tartlets are adorable. It is really hard to beat this one. It's practically effortless, and who wouldn't love this?

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  19. I like the before and after baking pictures. And I wish I'd cut my apples in slices like yours--they might have cooked through better. I'll have to remember that for next time.

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  20. I love your little tartlets! They are so cute!

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  21. Your lovely little plate of tartlets is so pretty!

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  22. They look beautiful and delicious! I love little individual deserts. Yum!

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  23. I've never been to Paris, but I can only assume that French pastries taste better there :)

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  24. Very Nice! I also love your pink sandwich cookies. Those are great!

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  25. I love the presentation of your Parisian Apple Tartlets on the cake stand! And the tartlets look delicious! I like the sliced apple method - makes it easier to take a bite! =)

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  26. So pretty I could grab it right off the page! Easy, too. I agree- never had a bad pastry in France. And can't remember a bad meal either. Nice romantic photo!

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  27. These look so yummy. I love apple pie, tarts, pastry etc... This looks so easy, especially when I have a craving but not time for a whole pie. I'm definitely going to try them.

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  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  29. Your apple tartlets are absolutely adorable! What a treat. Sorry, I had to delete my previous post because I misspelled a word and the result looked terrible...yeesh. =)

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  30. You are so right about the pastries in France! The croissant you get on the airplane coming back from Paris is better than 90% of the croissants you get here.

    I digress (what else is new). Your mini tarts are so precious! Parisian apple tarts at Lakers games...I sense a trend!

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  31. What a great easy accessible recipe. A great reminder to keep it simple.

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  32. very nice, so delicious!!

    i wanna to try it..

    thanks info!

    --
    wie
    Tire Catalog

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