Individual Apple Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 4 squares. Divide the pastry between the prepared sheet pans and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.
• Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baller. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally across the pastry and place one slice of apple on each side of the arranged slices. Sprinkle the apples evenly with the sugar and dot them with the butter.
• Bake for 40 minutes, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tarts will be fine! When the tarts are done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados until bubbly and brush the apples and pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tarts with a metal spatula so they don't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat; set aside. Roll out dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out six 6-inch rounds. Transfer rounds to prepared baking sheet. Reserve dough scraps for another use.
• Combine apples, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss to combine. Sprinkle each dough round with sugar. Place 1 tablespoon of applesauce in center of each round. Mound apples over applesauce, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold dough up and over apples, making a crease or fold every 1 to 2 inches to enclose fruit and prevent juices from seeping out. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Lightly beat egg to make egg wash. Brush edges of dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until apples are tender and crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Unfold 1 refrigerated pie crust onto a lightly floured surface. Cut 12, 2 1/2 inch circles from the pie crust, re-rolling the dough if necessary. Press each into a cup of a mini muffin pan.
• For the filling, whisk cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in sugar until fluffy. Add egg; blend well. Stir in flour, cinnamon, and vanilla until combined. Stir apples into cream cheese mixture.
• Spoon apple filling into 12 crusts.
• For topping, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until it forms a coarse crumb. Spoon topping evenly over each tart.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set out two 6-ounce ramekins.
• Place puff pastry sheet on a work surface and let thaw for just 5 minutes; it should still be partially frozen and very firm. Use a round pastry cutter the same diameter as your ramekins to cut out 2 rounds of dough. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Prick each pastry round all over with a fork.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pastries are puffed up and the bottoms are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and slide parchment paper off the baking pan onto a work surface; press warm pastries down lightly with the back of a fork to deflate them a bit. Let cool.
• Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Mix brown sugar, white sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, and a very small pinch of salt together in a bowl.
• Use 1 1/2 teaspoons butter to generously grease the bottom and sides of each ramekin. Spoon the sugar mixture evenly into each ramekin, reserving about 1 1/2 teaspoons for later. Shake ramekins gently to settle and flatten the sugar mixture.
• Fill a bowl with 3 cups cold water. Add lemon juice.
• Turn one apple on its side; trim about 1/4 inch off the top and bottom of the apple, then cut it in half through the center. Repeat with the second apple.
• Peel around the apple halves to remove the peel; discard. Continue to peel the flesh, making ribbons as long and as thick as possible until you reach the core, letting the ribbons drop into the water. As long as your ribbons are 3- to 4-inches long, that's fine.
• Pull out 3 to 4 of the longest ribbons and line them up on a work surface into one long ribbon, overlapping the ends an inch or so. Roll the ribbon up tightly to form the center of the tart, then turn it up on its end. Coil more ribbons around the center, overlapping as you go, until you have a coil that's the same diameter as your ramekin. Pick up the apple coil and place it into the ramekin, with the flat side on top of the sugar. Repeat to make the second tart.
• Dot 1/2 teaspoon butter over each tart, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture. Top each tart with a pastry round, placing the fork-poked side down on the apples.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pastries have browned and juices are bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and press the hot pastries down gently with a fork. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
• Run a knife around each pastry, then turn over onto serving plates. Use a spoon to go around each tart to separate the layers and create more definition, if desired.

Steps:

• On a floured work surface, roll dough to a 6-by-14-inch rectangle. Dot upper two-thirds of dough with butter and fold dough in thirds, like a letter, starting with the unbuttered portion. Roll dough to a 6-by-14-inch rectangle; refrigerate on a baking sheet until firm, 1 hour (or up to 1 day). Cut dough crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Place dough on sheet lined with parchment.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, gently toss together lemon juice, flour, brown sugar, salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and apples. Leaving a 1/2-inch border, arrange apples over dough, overlapping slightly.
• In a small bowl, combine egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water. In another small bowl, combine granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. Brush edges of dough with egg wash and sprinkle them with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until crust is golden brown and apples are soft, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm, topped with ice cream if desired.

Steps:

• Roll the pastry out into a circle, about 6 1/2 inches in diameter, and place it on a baking sheet. To measure the circle precisely and trim it, put a plate, approximately 6 inches in diameter, on top, and then cut with a sharp knife all around the circumference and remove excess dough to make a neat circle. Dip a pastry brush into the jam or jelly, and paint the bottom of the dough, leaving a 1/4-inch edge unpainted all around. Quarter the apple, peel and core it, and cut it into fairly thin slices. Arrange the slices overlapping in a circle all around the pastry round, leaving the 1/4-inch border, and then arrange the remaining slices in the center of the dough. Sprinkle up to 2 teaspoons of sugar on top, using more or less according to how tart your apples are. Place on a baking sheet, and bake in a preheated 425° oven for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 375° and bake 20 more minutes. Eat it while warm.
• Individual fruit tarts can be made the same way with rhubarb and pears. I prefer to use berries such as strawberries and raspberries raw in a tart, so I simply pre-bake the painted circle of dough, pricking the bottom first, for about 20 minutes at 425°, then, when the crust is cool, I arrange the berries on top. Gooseberries, however, are best cooked in the tart and need three times the amount of sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Cut 4 6-inch rounds out of the pie crusts, and fit them into 4 5-inch mini pie dishes. Cut remaining pie crust into 1/8-inch strips, and set dough aside.
• In a bowl, mix the diced apple, tapioca, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined; allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes to soften the tapioca. Stir the mixture again, and spoon into the pie shells. Use the strips of dough to weave a small lattice crust on top of each pie, and pinch the strips onto the bottom crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pies are browned and the filling is thickened and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Cool before serving.