recipe // french apple tart

one of our favorite things to do as the weather starts to turn brisk is to host dinner parties for dear friends.  we go from dining on outdoor patios around the city to time spent indoors, a fire crackling in the other room, with forks, candles, seasonal greenery, spoons, linen napkins, stemware and bright white dinnerware dispersed around our dining table.  a beautiful mess.

it is one of our greatest joys to feed others with food we have lovingly prepared.  i feel that there is nothing cozier nor more intimate than to share a delicious home cooked meal with those you care about.  food is surely my love language and when i get to share something i've cooked and put a lot of passion into with others my heart swells.  lingering conversations about travel and family and the like, combined with bouts of laughter of course, add to our love of hosting gatherings such as these.  they make for beautiful memories and bring us closer to those we have over.  the nights usually end in calling a cab ride home and the all to serious debate of whether or not to open yet another bottle of wine. we always do.

for this particular party we were hosting my brother in law jason and his french friend, pascal.  perhaps i got a little too excited that we would be hosting someone with a seasoned french palate, hence, we had (mostly) parisian bistro fare: savory creamy cajun soup as a starter, anchovy greens to follow, a big, glistening roasted leg of lamb submerged in a red wine rosemary jus resting on creamy pureed cauliflower with scallions as our main, and a french apple tart ala mode to put a bow on our evening.

tarts in particular are my go-to desserts when hosting a coursed dinner party, or really any party for that matter.  because roasts tend to take more time, and courses can get hectic, i prefer beautiful desserts that need no warming when served.  also, i'd rather spend my saturday napping instead of at my stove if we are being honest.  this apple tart looks rather impressive but is really quite simple to prepare.  i promise.  in all, it takes about twenty minutes to assemble and about forty five minutes to bake.  i hope you give it a try for the holidays and let me know how it turned out!

ingredients:

for the pastry:

1 store bought puff pastry sheet
3-4 granny smith or honey crisp apples
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 stick of cold butter in small cubes

for the glaze:

1/4 cup of citrus marmalade
1 tablespoon of cognac

to prepare: preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  i usually wrap the whole thing in foil before i do this to avoid a huge mess because the apple juice tends to burn the baking sheet.  lay out your sheet of puff pastry.  peel and cut your apples into little half moon slices.  place overlapping slices across your pastry, making any pattern you desire.  i tend to lean more toward classic layering.  sprinkle all the sugar across the apples evenly and dot with butter.  bake for 45 minutes or until the apples are golden brown.  when the tart is done, heat the marmalade and cognac together and using a pastry brush, coat the top of the apples.  allow your apple tart to cool completely or serve at room temp with vanilla whipped cream.  bon appetite!