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This gin and amaretto-laced Apple & Almond tart is a delicious autumnal bake!
Oct 5, 2023
This brilliant, boozy bake will have them crowding into your kitchen long before the recipe is finished.
Just wait until you poach the apples and your kitchen fills with the lightly spiced and beautifully sweet white wine and gin fragrances of the poaching liquid.
If that doesn’t bring in the sweet-toothed pudding connoisseurs of your family running in then the nutty, biscuity, orchard fruit aromas that drift from your oven as the tart bakes certainly will - few can resist those tantalising and homely siren-call scents!
And then comes the eating itself…
The break of the tender, buttery, shortbread-like tart case (a classic “Pâte Sablée” for those who are into their French pastries) combined with the soft, moist, almond-perfumed frangipane and the fruity, boozy poached apples is enough to make anyone go weak at the knees.
It makes for one stunning pudding, snack or afternoon tea treat!
What’s also great about this recipe is that its individual parts can all be prepared ahead of time and kept for a day or two to be put together when needed.
The poached apples can be left in their poaching liqueur, which could also be used to make a fantastic jelly, sorbet or granita on its own.
The frangipane can be frozen in its unbaked form until needed.
The uncooked pastry dough can be frozen too, or the part-cooked pastry case can be wrapped in cling film after being baked and kept for a day or two - perfect for if you are visiting friends and want to bake the tart as fresh as possible for them at their place.
You need to give this recipe a go, it’s so easy. But be warned, this extra-special and utterly moreish treat can result in repeat requests from anyone who tries it, so maybe make a spare just in case!
Boozy Apple & Almond Autumn Tart
Ingredients
For the poached apples:
150ml gin (we recommend Konsgaard Raw Gin for it orchard fruit notes)
150ml white wine
300ml water
300ml caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
4 apples, peeled (Braeburn or Cox apples are best)
For the tart case:
150g softened, unsalted butter
80g icing sugar
2 eggs, beaten
300g plain flour
pinch of salt
For the frangipane:
110g softened, unsalted butter
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp amaretto liqueur
110g ground almonds
Method
For the poached apples:
Add the white wine, gin, sugar and spices to a saucepan on medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the apples and poach them in the liquid until they are easily sliced by a sharp knife. They must be tender yet firm. If parts of the fruit rise above the level of the poaching liquid then place a clean plate on top of them to make sure they stay submerged until cooked.
Once the apples are cooked turn off the heat and allow the liquid and apples to cool. They can be transferred to a large enough jar to keep.
For the tart case:
Cream together the icing sugar and the butter until light in colour and fluffy in texture - it’s best to use an electric whisk for this if you have one.
Mix in the eggs - it may look a little ugly and spoiled when you first do this but keep mixing and it will come together, especially when the flour is then added.
Add a pinch of salt and sieve in the flour before combining everything together until a ball of dough forms - we want to work the dough as little as possible here, so try not to knead it.
Place the dough onto a sheet of cling film and pat it down into a rough circle (this will make rolling the dough out much easier). Wrap the circle of dough in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until a couple of millimetres thick then transfer it to a tart tin or baking tray that has been greased with butter (a loose-bottom tart tin would be ideal). Tenderly work the dough into the tin so it hugs every nook and cranny, doing patchwork where any holes appear, then leave in the fridge to rest for another 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180C and then line the pastry with baking parchment and baking beans or rice. Bake the pastry for 25 minutes or until lightly golden and then remove from the oven to cool.
For the frangipane:
Cream together the butter and the caster sugar in a big mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
Mix in one of the eggs until fully combined (it will not look pretty at first, but keep going until combined).
Sieve the flour into the bowl and mix that into the mixture too. Once incorporated, add the remaining egg and beat into the mixture.
When the mixture is smooth, add the ground almonds and the amaretto liqueur and mix to incorporate those.
This mixture makes more than enough for one tart but not to worry, the frangipane can be frozen and kept for use at a later date.
Assembling and cooking the tart:
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Spread a thick, even layer of frangipane over the bottom of the tart case, leaving plenty of room for it to more than double in height while cooking.
Remove any excess poaching syrup from your apples and slice them as you see fit, making sure to remove the cores. Keeping them in bigger chunks will leave you with more of a fruity bite, while thin slices have more of a melting, yielding texture (there are no wrong answers here). Lay the apples over the top of the frangipane in a nice pattern. There is no need to push them down as the frangipane will rise up around them.
Bake the tart in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until the frangipane has risen and you can slide and skewer into it and then pull it out clean.
Optional: For added pizzazz, remove the tart from the oven after around 20 - 25 minutes (the frangipane should have risen but still be wobbly) and sprinkle flaked almonds over the top. Return to the oven for the remainder of the cooking time.
Remove the tart from the oven and leave to cool. If the case is uneven around the top then carefully go around the rim with a sharp knife to trim it down.
Serve with clotted cream, ice cream or custard for maximum enjoyment!
If you love the flavours of orchard fruits then you need to try our Spiced Pear Gin Cocktail, it’s a stunning medley of autumn flavours. Find it here!
