Apple Crumb Tart
Crust:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 12 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp. ice cold water
Apples:
- 5 medium-large apples
- 3 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
Crumb Topping:
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. salt
- 6 Tbsp. cold butter
Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl or on a clean countertop, add the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt. Mix quickly with your hands. Add the cubed butter and mix into the flour by rubbing between your fingers until the dough resembles coarse crumbs, this may take a good 5 minutes or so, and do NOT soften the butter, it should be cold. In a small measuring cup, whisk together the egg, vanilla extract, and water. Make a well in the center of your flour mixture and add 1/3 of the egg mixture. Fluff the flour with your hands to just spread around the egg, which should only take 3 quick strokes of your hand. Repeat making a well, adding 1/3 of the egg mixture, and fluffing until all the egg mixture is added. Now gather the dough together and start squeezing it in your hands to combine the egg mixture with the flour and kneading it all together until eventually you have a ball of dough. The last step is easy but hard to explain, and it is called the “fraisage”, French for drilling. Take the ball of dough, and using the heel of your hand, flatten it out on the edges in all different directions until now it’s more like a disc of dough. Gather it all together in a ball and repeat two more times. You should notice that the dough is much more uniform now and doesn’t have lumps of flour, egg, or butter. This helps a lot when rolling. Chill the dough.
Once the dough is chilled, roll out onto a floured surface until it has a larger circumference by about 2” than the tart pan you are using (you may also use a pie pan). Fold the dough over once so it looks like an omelet (but do NOT press together, this is just for transferring to the pan),then fold over once more so it is one quarter of a circle. Place the middle corner in the middle of the pan and unfold the dough. Press it into the pan and use a rolling pin across the top to cut off the edges (you can probably only do this with a tart pan). Press a fork in the dough several times. Chill.
Make the apples: Peel the apples and then cut them into small cubes. In a large saucepan, add the apples and sugar. Cook the apples on medium heat until they start releasing all their juices and start to caramelize. At this point, with the heat still on, add the butter and cinnamon. Mix together. If it is not enough cinnamon, add more, the apples should all be speckled generously with cinnamon. Remove from heat and place into tart pan with the dough on the bottom.
Make the crumb topping: In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Spread over the top of the apples. Bake the tart in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. The crumb topping should be browned over. Cool completely before cutting.