Tart Archives - Page 2 of 5

Apple Tarte Tatin

January 30, 2019October 8, 2023 Zoë François 2 Comments

The Apple Tarte Tatin is a quintessentially French dessert. There are really two styles of French pastry, the super fussy, Marie Antoinette-style creations that are almost too beautiful to eat and look nearly impossible to create, and then the country-side, rustic sweets that are more delicious than beautiful.

I’d say this falls into the second category, but I think it is stunningly beautiful with its rich caramel apples and flaky pastry peeking out from under them. Rustic yes, but no less gorgeous than a Croquembouche or Paris-Brest, in my mind.

I’ve often said this is my comfort food, the one dessert I almost always choose on a menu (I rarely pick just one) and I start nearly every trip to NYC with a slice from Buvette in the West Village.

The key to success is having the proper apples. You want them to keep their shape while cooking in the caramel, so they absorb the bittersweet sugar and don’t just turn to mush. I’ve had good success with Pink Lady, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, and/or Granny Smith. Stay away from apples like McIntosh, Golden Delicious, and Fuji which break down and make sauce.

Traditionally the crust is a layer of Puff Pastry draped over the caramelized apples and baked upside-down, then inverted to reveal the deep caramel colored apples. The transformation is dramatic and delicious. You can make puff pastry or use a high-quality store-bought version. You can also use Pie dough or even sheets of Phyllo. The crust is the canvas that holds the apples, so you can get creative with whatever you have on hand. Below I give the instructions for all of the crust options.

Mile-High Lime Meringue Tart

January 27, 2019April 7, 2023 Zoë François 13 Comments

This Mile-High Lime Meringue Tart is the more sophisticated cousin to the Lemon Meringue Pie. It has all the tartness of lemon, but with lime, which I just find a touch more interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I am in LOVE with the lemon version, but this one just sings to me. I used a lime curd as the base of my tart, then topped it with so much meringue that it touches the sky. Of course, and you all know why I love this tart so much…I get to use my blow torch to toast the top. If you don’t have a blow torch by now, I urge you to get one, but you can also use your gas broiler, although it won’t come out nearly as evenly toasted.

Pear Raspberry Upside-Down Cake

September 2, 2018July 8, 2022 Zoë François 4 Comments

This weekend represents the transition between summer vacation and the start of the school year. It’s not the official change of seasons, but it might as well be. It is also when we switch from summer fruits to the fall harvest. Apples and pears are making their way onto the pages of Instagram, but the summer fruits are still around too. This Pear Raspberry Upside-Down Cake is the gate between the seasons. It’s the best of summer and the celebration of what is to come this fall. You can certainly make this without the raspberries, but they really brighten up the flavor and add a pop of color, which will be so longed for in a couple of months.

Applesauce Galette

August 26, 2018March 12, 2022 Zoë François 1 Comment

The Applesauce Galette is the comfy-jeans and T-shirt of the pie and tart world. It’s all the flavor of a pie’s great crust and fruit filling, but is rustic and stylishly unkept in its presentation.

I went the extra mile to fan out the sliced apples, but you can just pile them on if you want to take your applesauce galette to even greater shabby-chic heights.

I started by making a very simple applesauce, which is nothing more than apples, a few spices and a spoon full of honey. I spread a layer of the applesauce on a pie dough, covered it in sliced apple, folded up the crust and finished it with lemon sugar. Nothing could be easier and it is one of my all time favorite desserts. Add vanilla ice cream and really, in my mind, it is perfection.

In other big news … you can now find all of the equipment I use in my posts on my ZoeBakes Amazon Store.

Tuscan Ricotta Tart with Peaches

July 11, 2018May 31, 2022 Zoë François 8 Comments

Tuscan Ricotta Tart with Peaches. I’ve met so many incredibly talented and lovely people through Instagram. That’s where I first found Giulia Scarpaleggia (and her website Jul’s Kitchen), who lives and cooks in Tuscany. Her food is gorgeous and when she told me she had a cookbook coming out, I couldn’t wait to see it. The book is a beautiful guide to the Markets of Tuscany and the recipes they inspire, including this fresh ricotta tart (I added the peaches for a summer twist). The flavors are a classic combination from this region. I adore the food, the people, the terrain, the wine and the sweets of Tuscany. I’ve often fantasized about moving abroad and the Italian countryside is always first on the list.

Mango Curd Tart

June 7, 2018June 3, 2022 Zoë François 13 Comments

In a quest to create the perfect mango cheesecake, I discovered mango puree from the Indian market. I’ve tried making my own with fresh mangos, but the flavor was much too subtle and disappeared in most recipes. I even tried cooking it, to reduce the fruit, which usually works to intensify the flavor. But, it just made the mango taste like squash.

So, I asked the internet and my community taught me the ways of tinned (canned) mango puree, which is apparently a known and beloved ingredient in India. There are many types of mangos and the Indian market had them all in puree, so I tried them all. They are mostly sweetened, but I did manage to find one that wasn’t and it was amazing. If all you can find is the sweetened version, you can reduce the sugar in the recipe by a bit.

The mango cheesecake was a big hit and I had lots of the puree left over, so I went to work creating more desserts with it. This mango curd tart is the lucky result of that abundance of tinned mango. The curd is made just as you would a lemon curd, but I used a combination of mango and lime. It makes very little sense, but the lime makes the mango taste more like mango and not just cloyingly sweet. Slow cooking the curd over a double boiler is the key to the satiny texture.

You can watch my video of this mango curd tart on my Instagram page.