Autumn and apples.

The two just go together in my mind, and my tastebuds agree. Snuggling in as the rain falls and the temperatures drop. I look forward to this time of year when apples are aplenty and the evenings lose their light sooner making warmth all the more sought out whether by sitting by a fire or nibbling on something warm and subtly cinnamon-spicy.

Today’s recipe is one I stumbled upon making last fall while visiting my parents after an emotionally rough season for our family due to loss and health struggles. Looking for comfort, I looked to none other than Julia Child and found my favorite way to make a French apple tart – double the apples!

The filling for the recipe is akin to apple sauce, and the topping makes it look especially special. The double apple approach may take a touch more time, but it is absolutely worth it.

Choosing to use my personal pastry recipe, and Julia Child and Dorie Greenspan’s filling, I am confident you as well will find this classic recipe a bit more special and full of comfort and dependable flavor for savoring this fall.

Pair with a hot cuppa or hot cup of coffee, enjoy a slice entirely on its own or with a dollop of heavy whipped cream or a scoop of your favorite ice cream or gelato, and this dessert offers warmth and cozy deliciousness.

Pair with a hot cuppa and savor a favorite classic autumn dessert.

I do hope you enjoy this episode. View the full episode below!

~NOTE to readers who cannot see a video below: Be sure to turn off your ad-blocker if you use one as you will not be able to see a video at all if the ad-blocker is in use. Once you turn off your ad-blocker, you will need to restart your device to view the video.

~Tour my full kitchen and learn all of the details and my approach to this new space as well as how I decided on a La Cornue stove to be my lifetime stove. I am so tickled with how it was customized and transformed this summer (2020). (be sure to become a TOP Tier subscriber to be able to view the tour post.)

An Everyday Luxury

Notes from the Larder: A Kitchen Diary with Recipes by Nigel Slater

• A favorite Nigel Slater recipe from the book – Zucchini, Pancetta, Orzo w/Parmesan
• 12 Nigel Slater Recipes I Cannot Wait to Try

Links from the Episode:

• Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America’s Best Bakers by Dorie Greenspan
• Stainless Steel Flexible Spatula
• Demerara sugar
• How to make a good cup of tea – the pilot episode of the show!
  • 18 Ways to Enjoy a Good Cuppa
• Find the entire recipe at the end of this post (TSLL’s pastry & Dorie Greenspan’s filling)

Just Made Available! Digital Cookbooks for Each Season of the Show! If you are looking for all of the recipes for each previous season in one easy to find place without having to click through each episode for each season, I now have available a Digital Cookbook for Seasons 1 & 2 ($8). Shop here.(Note: All TOP Tier ad-free subscribers can download these cookbooks for free, and grandfathered/mothered ad-free subscribers, you too will be able to access them for free – we have had to tend to a small glitch, but it will be worked out soon. My apologies for the delay.)

~Cook & Share! I would love to share your Simply Luxurious Kitchen inspired experiences from your kitchen! Tag me on Instagram with @thesimplyluxuriouslife #tslkitchen and your post could appear on my Instagram feed. Many readers have already shared their meals inspired by recipes from TSLKitchen. Check out TSLL’s IG Story Highlights – titled, Viewers’ Recipes. And see the most recent shares since Season 1 wrapped up as viewers began to explore the recipes in their own kitchens. Over the past year, the croissant recipe (Season 2, Episode #6) was the most popular. Have a look below at a handful of pics shared by readers/viewers on IG, and be sure to share your next experience in the kitchen exploring one of TSLK recipes.

Double Apple French Tart

Simply Luxurious

With Shannon's classic pastry and Dorie Greenspan's filling inspired by Julia Child's beloved Baking with Julia television series, this tart is a luxurious fall dessert that is really quite simple to make.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

Shannon's Pastry

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter top quality, my favorite is Isigny Sainte-Mère
• 1-2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp fleur de sel
• 4-5 Tbsp cold water

Double Apple Filling

• 5 apples peeled, cored and roughly cubed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup panko or fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Double Apple Topping

• 3 apples peeled, cored, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled (rough chopped) melted
• 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

Instructions

 

The Pastry

• To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter (chilled) in a food processor and pulse until mixed and fine crumbs appear.
• Add the water gradually (how much you use will depend upon the humidity of your locale). Listen for the dough to begin to come together. Once it begins this process, stop pulsing – you are set. Place into a ball and press into a slight disc shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

The Apple Filling (applesauce-esque)

• Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
• Prepare the five apples (peel, core, and roughly cube).
• Line a baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper. Place the cubed apple pieces in one layer onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle the sugar, flour, cinnamon and bread crumbs over the apples. Mix with your hands until evenly distributed over the apples. Arrange the apples again so they lay flat on the baking sheet.
• Place into the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the apples are soft and capable of being mashed.
• Place the cooked apples into a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or masher. They do not need to be mashed into a smooth applesauce, but rather a rough mash so that some of the apples are visible and an observer would know it is a homemade applesauce.
• Let the applesauce cool. Set aside while you roll out the pastry and blind bake.

Baking the Pastry

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Roll out the dough and place in a tart pan(s) of your choice. Trim the edges, place parchment paper to cover the dough and place pie weights or beans (or rice) to hold the parchment paper in place while blind baking. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is lightly brown.
• Let cool.
• Reduce the heat of the oven to 375.

The Apple Topping

• Peel, core and slice about 1/4" thick. As you are slicing the apples, place the slices into a small bowl with lemon juice so as not to brown while they wait to be placed on top of the filling.
• Take the blind baked pastry shell, fill with the applesauce filling.
• Begin arranging the apple slices on top of the filling beginning on the outer edge and overlap as much or as little as you want keeping in mind that the apple slices will shrink. Continue moving around the tart until you reach the center. For the center, use four or five slices and place on end to create a flourish in the middle (upon baking they will fall flat, but the effect will be a blossom in the middle).
• Melt the butter on the stove. Using a small brush, brush the apple topping with the melted butter and sprinkle with demerara sugar (or Mae's crumble).
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edge of the apples are quite dark and the rest of the tart is lightly brown. If the crust edges are becoming too dark before the apples become brown, use tin foil to cover and continue to bake until desired color of the apples is reached.
• Let cool for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the tart pan and serve with a hot cuppa, heavy whipped cream or dulce de leche gelato (Bonata is my favorite).

~View more TSLL Recipes

View previous episodes from Season 3 of the Show

Season Premiere – Sorrel Chicken

Herbed Gougères, an Apéro Go-to Nibble, episode #2

~Beginning on October 1, 2020, a significant change and much anticipated improvements in engagement will be coming to TSLL blog. Only subscribers will be able to view more than five posts a month along with other exclusive content (Shannon’s Home & Garden Tours, Giveaways, Saturday Ponderings, etc.). Learn all about TSLL’s Soft Paywall here.