CARAMELIZED APPLE TART

CARAMELIZED APPLE TART

Golden delicious apples cooked in Port wine, brown sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup. Poured in a pastry shell. Refrigerated till set, then drizzled with more maple syrup and broiled till bubbly before serving!

Serves 8

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1 c. all purpose flour

1/2 t. salt

1 T. sugar

3 T. peanut oil

3 T. water

5-6 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, quartered, then sliced crosswise into very thin slices

3-4 dashes salt

1/2 c. red Port wine (I used Gallo)

3 T. margarine

salt, if using unsalted margarine

1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 c. pure maple syrup (Grade A)

1 t. fresh lemon juice

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 c. additional maple syrup

In large mixing bowl combine flour, salt and sugar. Stir well, then add oil and water both at once. Stir till mixture sticks together. Place in hands and form into ball (without handling it much), then place on lightly floured surface. roll out in large, thein (1/8 inch thick) circle.

Place over 8-9 inch pie plate. Pat and form to plate. Trim edges, leaving an even 1-1/4–1-1/2 inch overhang. tuck overhang under itself even with the rim of the plate. Pinch dough at 1/2 inch intervals to flute the edge around the rim.

with fork prick holes in several places on bottom and sides of plate. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes till lightly browned. Remove from oven, place on wire rack to cool.

Place apples in large saucepan. Salt lightly, then cook, stirring gently till apples begin to soften. Add Port and cook till apples soften more and most of PORT evaporates.

In large skillet, over medium heat, melt margarine. Add a little salt if you’ve used unsalted margarine, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon and cinnamon. Stir well till hot and bubbly.

Add apples to mixture; stir gently, but nearly continuously, till all liquid evaporates and apples begin to stick together.

Pour into pastry shell, smooth over top and smear up to 1/2 inch from top of fluted edge, around entire tart. Refrigerate several hours to set.

When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator. Drizzle with additional maple syrup, then smooth with spatula till evenly distributed over top. broil 5 inches from broiler element to till syrup begins to bubble a bit. Do not burn crust.

Remove from broiler, cut and serve.

Notes: This is a light, elegant tart. Pastry shell is light and crisp. Be sure when mixing dough not to overwork it.

Golden delicious apples work best in this dessert. If you try another apple, use one that keeps its shape when baked.

I used Gallo Port wine with good results. Some Ports have a bitter quality that isn’t conducive to pies.

Please use Grade A maple syrup. Grade B is cheaper and most people who don’t understand the nuances of maple syrup prefer a strong maple flavor, just because they can buy it in bulk at whole food stores. Not in this tart.