“It’s light,” said my husband. Kind of funny with the butter, sugar, and filo pastry, but he’s right. This pretty autumn dessert is just the thing for gatherings over the holidays. Serve whole on the sheet pan and cut custom slices for everyone—edge? middle? long and narrow? or a square? A scoop of vanilla ice cream on top is nice.
The apple slices in my photo are a bit sparse, because I ran out of apples and time as I was trying to get the photo before it got dark here in Montana. Rest assured, the tart will bake just fine if you have more plentiful apple coverage as in this old photo:
Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart
makes one 9- by 13-inch sheet pan tart; adapted from Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table
Ingredients
Almond Cream (Frangipane)
- 1½ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 5 tablespoons heavy cream
Tart
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar mixed with cinnamon whatever you like—cinnamon, clove, allspice, cardamom, etc. about ¼ teaspoon total
- 3 apples
- 8 leaves filo dough about half a package, thawed
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
Glaze for just baked tart: anything from white balsamic glaze or apricot jam thinned with a couple teaspoons of water to something you make yourself from say 6 dried apricots torn and simmered in simple syrup and a splash of white wine.
Instructions
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Whisk together the almond flour and sugar. Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt then combine the cream. Cover with plastic wrap pressed against the surface and set aside. You can make this in advance and refrigerate, but it is easiest to spread on the filo when it is soft and at room temperature.
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Mix together the sugar and spices for sprinkling between each layer of filo.
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13- by 9-inch sheet pan with a Silpat or parchment. Melt the butter.
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Slice planks from around the core of each apple then cut each into thin slices, about 14 per half, keeping the slices together.
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One by one, layer the filo, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with a bit of the sugar. On the top layer, spread the almond cream to about 1-inch of the edge. Arrange the apples on top of the almond cream, placing them in three long rows down the length of the tart. Bake for 30–35 minutes until tart begins to brown, filling is set, and apples are tender.
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Brush glaze over the tart. Serve warm or at room temperature.
