Introducing one of my all time favourite Tarts: Tarte de Pommes a la Normande (The french apple tart)
I am in love with french desserts and this is no exception. Take me to a pastry store and my eyes work quicker than my brains. An attractive looking tarte tatin or glazed pastry is enough to send me straight to the counter and before I know it, I’m outta the store with a bag of tarts and hmm some cakes 🙂 It’s interesting how food fads come and go in our country. First there was the bubble tea craze long ago, followed by the battle of the best chocolate fudge cake in town, and then when USC student (OH hello fellow Trojan) brought in Sogurt, many self serve frozen yogurt chains started to spring out of nowhere, and then it was the cupcake war and now we’re swimming in what we call the battle of the bakeries. Welcome to my World! You’ll see many reviews of these fellow places just by googling – Paul’s bakery, to Maison Mayser, Dong, Bakers and Cook. I have no better advice to give you: First hand encounter is always better because everyone’s opinions differ. A giraffe loves eating grass but does a lion like eating grass?
Anyway Michel Roux has always been one of the French chef and patissier that inspired me through his love for desserts and pastries. His pastries are to die for. Maybe what makes french cuisine so nice is how rich the food taste and yes you can guess by the amount of butter that goes into it. I’ve learnt NEVER to trust a french when they say to use a knob of butter, just as much as I’ve learnt my lesson never to trust someone in a foreign land when they say a particular building is ” just a few blocks down the road”. Anyway, this tarte has all the elements to bring you into cloud nine.I used granny smith apples for this entire recipe. Frequently, I would use a mix of granny smith apples for tartness and red ones to balance out but the reason behind the granny smith this time round was simple yet fascinating. I was on my way home from work and realised I didnt have any apples to make my apple tart. How smart of me because the morning itself, I was thinking and repeating to myself all the ingredients that goes into the making of this tart and viola the main ingredient- I forgot. I have only myself to blame as I was too fickle minded- Apples, Pears or Cherries?
There was no supermarket around the area, so I walked up to the salad store and asked whether they had some apples to sell me. She said yes at 70c per piece. That was quite a rip off but I was pretty desperate. Anyway she was nice to throw in a free apple, as if she already knew what I was thinking. Hahas!
Baked with Love: The tart base was pâte brisée  with a frangipane filling (Almond Filling), topped with freshly slice apples and glazed! Not so picture pretty as the apple slices shrunk when baked so next time I’ll flood every little corner with that so delicious apple 😉
