Free Form Tart

Ahhh, it’s finally officially fall. Certainly this is the time of year people who enjoy cooking return to the kitchen desiring to fill their homes with smells of chicken roasting or oatmeal raisin cookies baking. Fragrant aromas and oven warmth – a perfect combination for creating memorable autumn days.

I always associate fall with pies: apple pies, pumpkin pies, Derby pies, etc.. But like a lot of wannabe pie bakers out there, the word “pie” means crust. And crust means it’s never gonna be as perfect as what the professionals can whip out. Baking, in the traditional sense always makes me think of some enormously overweight temperamental exacting man with a starched white apron and hairnet or, alternatively, some hyper-thin perfectionist of a woman who rarely smiles except when she creates the perfect sugared violet. For years I felt intimidated by bakers and baking. I would pass bakeries and scoff at the rows of tidy petit fours and dozens of perfectly iced cookies. And then one day I discovered the free-form tart. For me, a woman passionate about cooking but less passionate about details, the free-form tart is a true thing of beauty.

This free-form tart is a less finicky form of pie dough. The free-form tart has everything a pie does, except for needing to be perfect. It has the requisite flaky, crumble on your lip, fall into your lap crust and a succulent filling. But, this very simple free-form tart recipe can be made with a modicum of baking talent and just as few ingredients. I especially like this recipe because I almost always have the star ingredients on hand: 1 cup flour, ½ stick of butter, and one apple. My little family of four can devour this easily, but if you have leftovers it can also double as a moderately healthy breakfast (certainly a little healthier than an Apple Danish).

The Crust

1 cup flour (if you’re feeling particularly virtuous try the new white-wheat flour from King Arthur Flour Co. But be warned, it definitely produces a heavier, not so flaky crust, but you can’t have it all, now can you? )

1 tablespoon of sugar

½ stick cold butter cut into small cubes

2-3 tablespoons of ice water

Although you can make this in bowl using a pastry fork, I find my food processor does a fine job, just as long as I’m careful not to over-process the dough. Plus, if I’m dragging out my food processor, I always make two batches of dough – one for now and one to freeze (wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer bags with contents clearly marked) for up to 6 months.

Add flour and sugar to bowl. Pulse briefly. Add butter. Pulse to blend for 10 seconds. Add one tablespoon of ice water. Pulse to blend again. Continue to add water, but only until the flour and butter just start to come together. Your butter should be incorporated, but the dough should not come together in a mass, rather you should pour out the contents of the dough onto a counter and bring it together to form a solid lump with the warmth of your hands. At this stage I usually wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in my freezer for about 30 minutes. Why? Because this will ensure a flakier crust. Flakiness happens when the butter melts at high temperatures and forms pockets of air. The colder the butter, the bigger the pockets and hence, the flakier the crust. If you have warm butter it will just melt into the gluten of the flour and won’t expand, thus producing a tough, flake-less crust.

On a clean, lightly floured countertop, roll the dough into approximately an 8-9 inch circle. It doesn’t have to be perfect! Slide the dough onto a greased cookie sheet (or if using really wet fruits – peaches, raspberries, etc. – transfer dough into a jelly roll pan or something similar with sides to catch any thing that might drip).

The Filling

1 apple

Honey to taste (I usually stick a fork into my honey jar and drizzle whatever comes off of my fork onto the apples)

Cinnamon, if you like

Nutmeg, if you like

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into half and slice into half-moon shapes. If you have any misshapen pieces (I always do), dice finely and put them aside.

Starting in the middle of the dough, place your diced pieces of fruit. Next, begin using your half-moon shaped pieces to encircle the dough. Leave approximately 1 – 1 ½ inches of dough so that you can fold it over the fruit.

Drizzle honey and sprinkle cinnamon over the fruit. Fold over the border of dough to overlap the fruit.

And, if you like a nice sugary crust, brush a little milk on the top of the dough and sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake at 400 degrees in the lower half of your oven for approximately 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Variations:

This sweet tart dough has endless variations for fillings, but two of my favorite combinations are to combine fresh peaches with raspberries or nectarines with blueberries.