Open apple tart

Diana Henry's dish is a very French pudding that’s easy and looks great. It becomes gorgeous through the heat of the oven, so doesn’t require much effort, but be sure to cut the apple into thin slices.

Ingreadient

• 400g puff pastry (from a 500g block. Use the remainder for another recipe or the tart will be too heavy)
• Flour, for rolling
• 1 lemon, juice
• 5 Granny Smith apples
• 2 tbsp caster sugar, to taste
• 50g butter, cut into little pieces
• Icing sugar for dusting, or 3 tbsp apricot jam, to glaze
• Crème fraîche, to serve

Step by step

1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas mark 7. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured sheet of baking parchment to a round measuring roughly 32cm. Trim to create a near-perfect circle. Slide the pastry, still on the parchment, onto a baking sheet. Prick it all over with a fork, then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
2. Put the lemon juice into a medium bowl. Peel, quarter and core the apples, then slice them thinly, tossing them in the lemon juice as soon they’re cut, otherwise they will discolour.
3. Put the apple slices onto the pastry, leaving a small border (about 2cm) all the way around. This doesn’t have to be neat. Carefully lift the pastry around the edge so the apples are slightly enclosed.
4. Sprinkle the caster sugar over the top, dot with the butter, then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and the apple slices are tender and slightly singed at the edges.
5. If you choose to serve a light dusting of icing sugar, don’t dust it over the top until you’re about to serve. If you want an apricot glaze, apply it as soon as the tart is cool. Gently heat the jam in a small saucepan with 2 tsp water, then push the melted jam through a sieve to get rid of any big bits of fruit. Paint the glaze over the tart using a pastry brush and it will firm up. Serve the tart with crème fraîche.