What is Pie
A pie is a baked dish that is usually made of a pastry dough that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit, nuts, brown sugar, sweetened vegetables, or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy.
What is Tart
A tart is also similar to pie consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry.
Difference between Pie and Tart
Both pie and tart are incredibly similar. The main difference is that tarts only have a bottom crust, and the crust is much thicker than a pie crust. And a pie may have top crust also.
About my recipe
Today, I am sharing a classic Apple Pie recipe. They are very flavourful and delicious. The pie consists of crispy cookie like crust with fruity flavour and filled with creamy custard and apple pieces.The recipe is simple but a little tricky. If you follow all the steps and measurements correctly, you will get a wonderful pie that will be your favourite for sure.
Recipe details
- Preparation time: 30 min
- Baking time: ( 20 + 35 ) = 55-60 min
- Serves: 7″ size pie + 2 mini pies
- Difficulty level: Medium
Ingredients for Pie Crust
- 1+ 3/4 cups (225 grams) all-purpose flour/Maida
- 100 grams room temperature unsalted butter, cut into pieces+ more to brush tart pan
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated light brown sugar/white sugar
- 1 large egg , at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 pinch of salt
Ingredients for Custard:
- 2 tablespoons cornflour
- 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white or brown sugar
- 2 large eggs , at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) cooking cream or light cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Ingredients for fruit jam
- 1/4 cup dry cherries and apricot
- 2 tablespoon granulated white or brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
Other ingredients
- 2 red apples, peel and thinly sliced1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- Powdered sugar to garnish
- Brown sugar to garnish
Method
Have ready a 7 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.You can use 8 inch tart pan also. Brush with oil or butter.
Place the flour, salt, and butter in a big mixing bowl.
With your finger tips press and mix until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.You can do the process with food processor also.
Add the sugar and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tbsp of water. Add to the flour mixture and mix until the mixture is moistened and starts to come together.
Mix until the mixture forms to a rough dough. Don’t knead the mixture. Just make a lump.
Take about 3/4 of the dough and, on a lightly floured surface, roll into an 9 inch circle that is about 1/8 inch thick.
To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the patty as you roll.
When the patty is the desired size, slip the bottom plate of the tart pan under the tart disk until it is in the center.
Fold the over hanging edges of the tart into the center and transfer (the disk and bottom plate) into your tart pan. (See video for demonstration.)
Roll your rolling pin over the top of the pan to get rid of excess pastry.
Prick bottom of tart with a fork (this will prevent the pastry from puffing up as it bakes).
Cover and refrigerate for about 20 minutes (to help prevent the pastry from shrinking during baking).
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C and place the oven rack in the centre of the oven.
Line the unbaked tart shell with baking paper.
Fill with pie weights or beans, making sure the weights are to the top of the pan and evenly distributed over the entire surface.
Bake the crust for about 20 to 25 minutes until the sides get light brown.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
When cool, remive the beans with baking sheet. Your pie crust is ready now.
Spread (I use a brush) a thin layer of warm fruit jam(recipe given below)over the bottom and sides of the pastry to seal the crust and prevent it from getting soggy. Let the jam dry for 10 minutes.
How to make the fruit jam:
Chop dry cherries and apricots roughly.
In a small saucepan, place the fruit pieces with 1/4 cup of water and cook until the fruits become soft.
Add in sugar and orange zest. Cook until sugar dissolves completely and the mixture becomes glossy and sticky.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Then transfer to a blender and blend to make smooth paste. Flavourful jam is ready now.
How to make Custard:
In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the salt and sugar. Whisk in the eggs to make a smooth batter.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the cream until it just starts to boil. I heated up in microwave .
Remove from heat and gradually whisk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Set this mixture aside while you prepare the apples.
Peel, core, cut the apples into thin 1/8 inch slices.
Assembling
Arrange the apple slices on top of the cooled and glazed tart shell.
Carefully pour the custard over the apples (do not overfill or the custard will drip between the crust and the pan).
Bake at 180 degrees C for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the custard has set and the apples are tender when pierced with a knife.
Next, dust the top of the tart lightly with brown sugar.
Then again, place the tart in the upper rack of the.oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes with only upper rod on so that the top of the pie gets brown .
Take out from oven. Finally, using a brush, lightly brush the top of the tart, the apples, custard, and edges of pastry with warm fruit jam.
Sprinkle the edges of the tart with icing sugar.Serve warm or at room temperature.
This Apple Custard Tart looks so elegant with arranged apple slices enveloped in a rich and creamy custard. The tart has a crisp cookie-like taste and texture. Once the tart is completely baked, the finishing touch is to brown the tips of the apple slices under the oven’s broiler. Then brush the slices of apples, the custard, and the edges of the pastry with warm fruit jam, which keeps the apples from drying out, plus it makes the whole tart shine.
Barak Kitchen 