apple tart or apple dessert in most unusual times

Hello, dear neighbors. I hope you are all well. Because of the current pandemic situation*, today I am sharing not one, but two apple recipes: a tarte and a clafoutis. Both are gluten-free (for me) as well as dairy-free (for my husband). Apple tart (“tarte aux pommes”), the way my mom used to make it for us, always had a little cream added to the apple chunks. I replaced it with coconut cream, adding an egg to it as a binding agent. This dessert can also be made with blueberries; just adjust the amount of sugar to your own taste.

*explanations following the recipe

Ingredients (for a 9’’ / 22 cm Ø pie dish)

– OPTIONAL: 1 pie dough (my own gluten-free version uses 45 to 50g rice flour + 45 to 50g cassava flour + ¾ tsp psyllium husk+ 3 TBSP water + 3 TBSP olive oil + 45g grated Granny Smith apple, a pinch each salt and cane sugar ; how-to video here)

– 1 egg

– 125 ml (½ cup) coconut milk / cream

– also 1 TBSP pure cane sugar, without any additives; feel free to adjust this quantity to your own taste

– 3 to 4 of your favorite apples

How to:

1. If you are making a tart, make the pie dough; if not, skip to step 3. Let the dough rest for a while, then roll it out between a piece or parchment paper and a silicone mat (other ways of rolling out gluten-free pie dough here). Place in a pie dish. Please note that mine is a non-stick metal one and that depending on what your pie dish is made of — metal, ceramic, Pyrex — baking time may vary.

2. Prick the dough and place in the freezer while the oven preheats to 200°C / 390°F.

3. Blend together 1 egg + 125ml / ½ cup coconut cream + 1 TBSP pure cane sugar. Pour into a large bowl and set aside.

4. While the pie dough bakes for an initial 15 minutes, core and peel 3 to 4 apples, then cut or dice into small pieces. Place the apple bits in the egg + coconut cream mixture as you work to prevent oxidation.

5. Pour the whole apple mixture, liquid included, into the pre-baked pie shell, or in individual dishes for the clafoutis version of this recipe. Bake an additional 35 minutes. Your dessert, tarte or clafoutis, is ready when the apple pieces start turning golden.

pie shell after 15 minutes… of baking

… and now with apple and coconut cream filling

If you don’t eat the whole pie in one sitting, the crust is likely to get a little limp. I recommend warming it slightly in the oven (using bottom heat only) before serving to perk it up again.

individual tarts (tartelettes), with apple or blueberry filling

I had been meaning to share this recipe with you for a long time, dear neighbors… But I would never have imagined the very special circumstances surrounding this post! Here we are all, wherever we live, more or less confined, for an undetermined amount of time, with a limited amount of ingredients in our pantries that should not be wasted! The photos of my pies were taken several weeks ago. Since France went into general confinement at the beginning of the week, I am saving all my flours for more essential uses than desserts, meaning bread and homemade pasta. I know many people are feeling deprived right now, deprived of social contacts, deprived of the freedom of enjoying spring outside, and maybe that explains why there was a rush to stock up on sugar. Unfortunately, this sweet stuff will only leave us craving for more, as our guts take control over our brains… Maybe we should see this as an opportunity to try and do without? For us, our short trip to Japan two years ago was a total revelation. There, no desserts were served with our meals and the green tea we drank was unsweetened. Buying pastries would have meant going to special shops xx… And given my extensive knowledge of Japanese — “hello”, “thank you”, “thank you very much”, “fork”, “knife”, and “yes”, wow, I can actually say six words!–, I just couldn’t picture myself asking questions about gluten and additives!

Anyway, whether they have sugar in their pantries, I hope all of my dear neighbors are safe. Take care, every one of you. I mean it.

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