French Friday: Apple Almond Cream Tart

French Friday: Apple Almond Cream Tart

By Laura Calder

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup (110 g) butter
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) vanilla
• 1 cup (125 g) flour
• For the cream filling:
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces (225 g) cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup (55 g) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) vanilla
• For the topping:
• 3 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• ¼ cup (55 g) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) cinnamon
• ¼ cup (55 g) slivered almonds or chopped walnuts

Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). For the crust, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Mix in the flour to make a smooth dough. Press into an 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan, going about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven, but don’t turn off the oven.

While the crust bakes, beat all the ingredients for the cream filling together until smooth. In another bowl, toss the apple slices with the sugar and cinnamon. Spread the cream mixture in the tart shell. Arrange the apple slices on top, and scatter over the nuts. Bake until the apples are tender and golden, about 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Oooh la la! Isn’t that just pretty?

This tart really is as simple as it gets and tastes beautiful. Not too sweet with a layer of slightly tart apples (I used Granny Smith), a silky layer of cream cheese, a little crunch from the almonds and is still pretty enough to show off at any dinner party. If you’d like to jazz it up, add a dollop of whipped cream perhaps laced with a dash of cinnamon but, really, this is gorgeous just the way it is. No extra adornments necessary.

Even my hubby says so and he can be quite a Fussy Pete when it comes to food.

I give this recipe 8 chips out of a bag of 10.