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Need a good dessert this Memorial Day weekend? Try this easy and elegant apple tart (forget about the French part). This really isn't hard to make, and it looks so impressive. It's really good, too, especially if you serve it with a scoop of ice cream.
I adapted this recipe from Ina Garten's on "Barefoot Contessa." The Food Network website even has a video of here making it here if my instructions aren't too clear. She made her own pastry dough, and you're welcome to do that too, but I used a sheet of puff pastry, and it was great.
You should definitely do this when you want to impress company. It looks so elegant and is so much easier than it looks.
French Apple Tart
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
3-4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup apricot jelly
2 Tbsp rum or water
Preheat oven to 400. Roll out puff pastry sheet to 10"x14". Transfer to sheet pan lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray.
Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and core with a sharp knife and a melon baller. Slice the apples crosswise into 1/4"-thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal slices down both sides of the first row until the tart is covered with apple slices. Sprinkle apples with the 1/2 cup of sugar.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out.
When the tart is done, heat the apricot jelly together with the rum or water, and brush the apples and pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a spatula. Allow to cool, and serve warm or at room temperature.
One of my favorite things on a Saturday morning is mindlessly watching Food Network shows, and last weekend I was lucky enough to catch Tyler's Ultimate. He's was making the ultimate soup and sandwich, and his sandwich was a grilled cheese, apple, and bacon sandwich. Umm, yes please. I had to make it that afternoon.
This was honestly delicious. This could easily be a Saturday afternoon (or laid back Sunday night or Friday night or whenever) staple. Tyler's recipe called for country-style white bread, but I just used by regular wheat bread, and he also said to generously spread Dijon mustard on the bread before starting to assemble the sandwich, but I forgot to do that.
You HAVE to try this. It's so good!
Grilled Cheese, Apple, and Bacon Sandwich
4 slices of bread
6oz sliced Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 Tsbp butter
6 slices bacon, cooked to desired doneness
1/2 green apple, thinly sliced
(Dijon mustard, if desired)
Heat griddle or large skillet over medium-low heat. Assemble sandwich: if desired, spread Dijon mustard on bread. Top with slices of Cheddar, 3 pieces of bacon, apple slices, and additional Cheddar. Place the remaining bread on top, and spread the outsides of the bread with butter. Cook until cheese is slightly melted and bread is browned. Flip the sandwich and continue to cook until cheese is thoroughly melted and bread is golden brown.
These muffins are amazing. I can't tell you enough how delicious they are. They're surprisingly light, and they'd be incredible with a spread of cream cheese.
The recipe calls for one cup of diced apple, and that was just one apple for me. It also calls for a half stick of butter, which I used, but next time I make them, I might substitute applesauce for the butter; it would enhance the apple flavor and still give the moisture. You can usually substitute applesauce for oil in baking recipes, so I'm sure it would work the same way in this one. It calls for half a cup of bran cereal, and I just used my Special K; I don't think that's technically bran cereal, but it's my favorite cereal, and it turned out great. If you want a fancier topping, I'm sure they'd be wonderful with a streusel topping, but the plain old cinnamon and sugar combination was perfect for us. The recipe yields 16 muffins.
(Side note about cinnamon/sugar: my mom tells me frequently how amazed she is at everything I cook because I was SUCH a picky eater as a kid. For years, she tells me, I wouldn't eat anything if it wasn't covered in cinnamon or cheese. My tastes have developed since then, but my love for things topped with cinnamon or cheese has remained.)
You have to make these muffins soon. They go perfectly with the wonderful fall weather we've been having, and they make your house smell amazing while they're baking!
Apple Cream Cheese Muffins
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup bran cereal
Topping:
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and cream cheese. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each one. Add milk and vanilla to other wet ingredients and mix. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in apples and cereal.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full with muffin batter. Combine cinnamon and sugar for topping, and sprinkle over batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in muffin tin before removing from pan to cool on a rack.
