Dutch Apple Tart

You may have had this traditional Dutch apple tart at a birthday party, or work celebration, and they can be purchased at supermarkets. But as with most treats, a homemade version tastes so much better!

Here is a recipe to make your own apple tart; you can opt to leave out the walnuts or raisins if you don’t like them.

Dough
175gr cold cubed butter (Roomboter)
150gr caster sugar (Witte basterdsuiker)
300gr self-raising flour
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks
pinch of salt

Apple Mix
1-1,5kg cooking apples, e.g. Goudrenetten or Jonagolds, peeled, cored and each cut into eight wedges
50gr raisins
50gr walnuts
2tbsp ground cinnamon
4tbsp sugar

Make the dough by hand for best results. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, zest and salt.

Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles yellow corn meal mixed with bean sized bits of butter. (If the flour/butter mixture gets warm, refrigerate it for 10 minutes before proceeding.)

Add one egg yolk and stir the dough together with a fork or by hand in the bowl.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled: at least 1 hour.

For the filling, mix the apples with the raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and sugar. Leave aside.

Take the dough out of the fridge. Keep one quarter for the top. Sprinkle your work surface with a little flour and using a rollingpin, roll out the dough to a 26-30cm circle, 3-5mm thick. As you roll out the dough, check to make sure it isn’t sticking to your work surface. If and when it starts to stick, gently lift it up and sprinkle a little more flour on the work surface or on the dough to keep it from sticking.

Gently place the rolled out dough into a 24cm round deep cake tin. Press down to line the bottom and sides with the dough, push in into the corners.

Fill in with the apple mixture. Roll the remaining dough into long strings (8 total) and lay them across the top in a lattice format.

Whisk another egg yolk and brush it over the top.

Bake for one hour in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees.

Serve the apple tart warm or cold with a little cream on the side, or may be some ice cream!