Rustic Gala Apple Tart Recipe

Simple to make Rustic Gala Apple Tart will be your go to recipe.  Rich buttery home made sweet crust rolled into large rectangle then filled with cinnamon sugar coated gala apples.  Baked at 375 degrees for 25 minutes until filling is thick and bubbling before adding sliced almonds for the last 5 minutes of baking.  Sprinkled with additional cinnamon and sugar makes this tart sweet and delicious.  Served with fresh whipped cream or french vanilla ice cream for good measure, sure to please every palate.

Because apple tarts seem to be baked in the fall, this recipe can be made any season.  For a quick dessert rolling a home made crust and filling with sweet apples or berries makes everyone happy.

Making Home Made Crust for Rustic Gala Apple Tart

Making the crust begins with chilled butter and a food processor.  I like to shred my butter with a hand grate then freeze until ready to make the crust. Very little processing is necessary when freezing the shredded butter.  Butter makes the crust light and tender as well as makes the crust taste great.

Process flour, salt and sugar in bowl of food processor, then add shredded butter and pulse til crumbled pea size.  Gradually add ice water to the flour and process until a dough forms.  Takes moments to process.  Remove from bowl and flatten to a rectangular disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 and prepare baking sheet with parchment.

Rolling Out The Dough

Rolling the dough couldn’t be easier.  On a floured surface, roll chilled dough into a large rectangle or circle if preferred to 1/4″ thickness.  Make sure dough moves freely and doesn’t stick to surface or rolling pin by adding a little bit of flour.  Be careful not to over do the flour.. you don’t want a tough crust.

Place crust on baking sheet, fill with filling.

Apple or Berry Filling?  You Decide

Whether you choose to make a rustic gala apple tart or a mixed berry tart the technique is basically the same.  Prep for apples includes peeling, coring and slicing apples into thin wedges, tossing with flour, sugar, ground cinnamon and salt.  Prep for berries is easier, just toss mixed berries in a mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, ground cinnamon (optional) and salt. Toss to combine. Place fruit down center of prepared crust and fold over edges of dough over the filling. This is the rustic part of the tart, folding the crust. The crust over the filling keeps the juices inside the tart.  Fruit fillings can be juicy so make sure you use thawed fruit if using frozen berries. Apples are the perfect filling for they have pectin which automatically thickens during baking.  Go easy on the sugar though, for apples especially gala apples are sweet.  Gala’s are not really considered baking apples but they are delicious in this tart.  If you want to use a baking apple, select tart apples like Granny Smith.  Golden Delicious is also delicious.

How to Fold Rustic Crust

Because fruit mixture is placed down center of rolled crust, you will need to leave a 3” space around the outside edges of crust to pleat and fold over the filling. Takes moments to fold over and it doesn’t haven’t to look perfect as in pinching pie crust edge in a pie plate.  Brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar or ground cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Rustic Gala Apple Tart Recipe

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• Author: Liz Bushong
• Prep Time: 20 minutes + chill
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 90 minutes
• Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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Butter Crust

• 1–1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) cold butter, grated
• 1/3 cup ice water
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water- for egg wash
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon-reserve
• ½ teaspoon sugar-reserve

Apple Filling

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1– 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 small Gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla- optional

 

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Instructions

Make Crust:

1. Grate butter with hand grater and place in freezer to chill.
2. Make crust. Place flour, sugar, and salt in food processor with steel blade, process 5 seconds.
3. Add chilled butter, pulse 15 seconds until flour has a course crumb.
4. Drizzle with ice water, pulse until dough comes together.
5. Form dough in a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze to firm one hour.

Make Filling:

1. In medium mixing bowl, place sliced apples, sugar, flour, and spices, toss together then add vanilla. Toss until apples are coated, set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. On floured bench, roll out chilled dough to ¼” and large rectangle 16” x 14”. Square off ends and sides of dough to form the rectangle. Reserve excess dough for sugar cinnamon sticks.
4. Using rolling pin, roll dough around pin and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Spoon apple mixture down center of dough leaving 2-3” clear of filling from edges. Fold over excess dough over the filling, folding and pleating as desired.
6. Brush dough with egg wash sprinkle with sugar cinnamon mixture. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes until dough is baked and golden. At 25 minutes sprinkle baked tart with sliced almonds. Return to oven to bake the additional 5 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and cool before removing from baking dish. Slice tart into squares. Serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Notes

If using frozen berries,  thaw and drain before mixing with sugar and flour.

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Enjoy this great dessert.  xo Liz

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