Apple Pie – French Apple Tart or Tarte Normande
Apple pie or French Apple tart or Tarte Normande is all I could think of. It is always apple season …
- 55 mins
- Dessert
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The quintessential French apple tart. Flaky, soft, tender, and full of flavor. Love with each bite.
In France, we have a love relationship with apple tart. Plain-cut apples with a hint of sugar and butter baked to perfection. Or, Tarte de Pommes a la Normande, which has a velvety custard made of eggs and heavy cream with sugar.
And here is another version with hazelnut frangipane on a flaky pastry. Fresh hazelnuts that are roasted, then ground into fine pieces with sugar, butter, and egg. And I must say it is wonderful.
Do not be concerned if the bottom on the sides gets a bit burnt, that is a normal process of the juices of the apple and the frangipane.
However, do create a pattern with your apples. Here, I have two rows going in one direction, and one in the opposite. Be creative and put your flair to this apple tart.
In essence, frangipane is an almond filling, almost like a thick cream. Not to be confused with marzipan, which is an almonds sugar paste that is so dense and used to decorate cakes.
Frangipane is a mixture of butter, eggs, ground almonds, sugar. Not as attractive in color, but super savory with all your baking tarts.
With this recipe, we will be using hazelnuts which gives more of a nutty rich flavor to your apple tart/
A tart can be a savory or a sweet baked dish that consists of a pastry on the bottom, filled with either fruit and sometimes with an egg custard.
Usually presented on a round form with an open top.
Sometimes you will see them be referred to as “Tartalette”. It is the same however smaller in size, or as an individual serving.
Always make it short-walled.
Some recipe tips and notes to help you along:
Vanilla ice cream is always the favorite of course. Whipping cream or Chantilly is just as delicious.
Have it tea or coffee for an afternoon snack. What a small glass of Brandy or Cognac sitting by the fire? Make it a romantic evening with your loved one.
Slice it into squares, easy to handle. Just remember it is a flaky pastry, therefore, you will have to serve it on a plate.
Jonagold and Braeburn are the perfect amounts of sweetness and they keep their texture well when they are baked.
Honeycrisp and Cortland, are other wonderful apples that you can use with this tart.
Unfortunately, Red Delicious, is not the favorite of baking, as they fade in taste and when baked will not hold the shape and your tart will fall apart.
A great holiday dessert, light and full of flavor.
Check these out:
Cranberry Sauce with Apricots, Raisins and orange
Equipment and ingredients used to prepare this apple tart with hazelnut frangipane
Preheat oven to 375F
Place the hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and roast in the hot oven for 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a food processor, add the ¼ cup sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla extract. Process until creamy paste forms.
Roll out the puff pastry to 15 inches long by 10 inches wide. Transfer it to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Spread the frangipane on the dough stopping about 1 ½ inch away from the edges.
Arrange the apple slices over the frangipane on an overlapping pattern to cover well the frangipane underneath. Fold the edge of the dough over the apples to make a 1 to 1 ½ inch border.
Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar over the apples letting some of the sugar sprinkled over the border dough. Break the 2 tablespoons of sweet butter and scatter them over the apples. Bake for 1 hour the dough should be nicely crystallized all over.
Remove the finished tart from the oven and cool on a wire rack until still a bit warm to the touch. Mix together the orange marmalade with the Calvados and glaze the surface of the tart spreading it carefully on the apples and the border crust. Use the back of the spoon to easily spread.
Serve at room temperature cut into small wedges. Serve with whipping cream or ice cream.
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This looks so yummy I can’t wait to try it!
Thank you! I am sure you and your family will enjoy it.
Bon Appetit!
This looks entirely delightful!!
Thank you! It sure was.
I be can’t wait to make this with hazelnuts! I’ve only had almond before and now all I want is hazelnut. What a great idea!
Thank you! I found the hazelnuts to be a bit nuttier in flavor, which I do love.
Enjou!
This is such a great dessert to make at dinner parties as it’s so pretty – all my guests went ooooooh where I brought it out! Delicious too, loved the flavours. Thanks so much for the recipe!
The pleasure is all mine, Rosanna!. Thank you for making it and love you for sharing your feedback.
Happy Holidays!
The flavors come together so perfectly here. I never heard of frangipane before, but it was easy to make and so delicious. This is perfect for a nice fall treat!
Thank you so much, Dawn! I do as well love how easy it is to make the frangipane, which I have not stopped making since.
Happy Holidays!
Making this for Thanksgiving instead of pie this year. Your recipe is easy to follow and I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you, Jere! You will enjoy it and so easy to make.
Bon Appetit!
This looks incredibly delicious. I can’t wait to try it
You will love it! Very easy to make.
Enjoy it!
Yum! This was delicious! So perfect as a simple dessert!
Thank you and so happy you enjoy it. Love that you can make individual portions too.
Thank you for stopping by Giangi’s Kitchen.
I’ve never had frangipane, but know it well enough from British Bake Off. Figured it would be some crazy hard thing to make, but it’s not! And, I love that you used hazelnuts (my fave!), but I’ll still have to try it with almonds sometime. Delish!!!
You cannot go wrong with either. I happened to love hazelnuts and always get them when I see them at the store. Did you participate in the British Bake Off? How fantastic is that! Want to hear more.
Thank you for stopping by Giangi’s Kitchen!
So decadent! I love Apples and this is a perfect dessert to share with everyone. Looking forward making this recipe.
A bit decadent with a lot of flavor. I am sure you will enjoy it.
Thank you for taking the time to stopping by Giangi’s Kitchen.
This apple tart looks absolutely delicious! I will be making this for dessert at my holiday get-together. Thanks for the recipe!
The pleasure is all mine. I am sure you will enjoy it.
Enjoy!
I just love to learn the history or the provenance of a recipe, especially if it is a dessert! This one seems easy to make, but it looks spectacular! It must taste the same, I’m sure:)
Mihaela, it is so good. Gone before you can say Boo. Yes, quite easy to make and tastes so good.
I hope you will make it.
Enjoy!
Such a beautiful tart! I am totally intrigued by the frangipane. It sounds lovely paired with the apples.