Mountain Rose Apple Tart

Last weekend Patrick and I took a trip to Hood River and visited one of my favorite places, Mount Hood Organic Farms. We come here every fall for the awesome selection of beautiful organic apples and pears, this year they even had quince but I forgot to get some. I guess I’ll have to go back.
The Farm is located in the upper Hood River Valley and is incredibly beautiful. If I could stay there forever, I would.

John, the farms proprietor is incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and appreciative of local support of his farm.
We came away from this visit with some Starkrimson pears, and a whole bunch of apples, Jonagolds (for apple butter), Fuijis, Rubinettes, and 10 lbs or so of our favorite, the Mountain Rose.
The Mountain Rose is a small apple with rose colored flesh inside and a tangy but sweet flavor.
Not surprisingly my first apple project after this trip centers around the Mountain Rose. I wanted to make something that would show off its color and be sweet and fatty to satisfy our winter cravings.
This tart recipe is normally made with fresh fruit so I had to get creative for using the apples. I decided that baking them first was the best idea, but I had to be careful not to bake them too much, so that they didn’t just fall apart as soon as I touched them, but not so little that they were too hard to cut through. I ended up baking them not quite long enough so I’ve added an optional extra 5 minutes to the recipe.
The Crust and Pastry cream recipes are adapted from one of my favorite cook books the Tassajara Bread Book, an essential part of my baking repertoire.

Mountain Rose Apple Tart
Crust:
1 1/2 cups white spelt flour
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cold water
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
6 medium mountain rose apples (or whatever variety is available)

Pastry Cream:
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 + 2 tbsp half and half
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For crust:
Mix dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
Cut in butter using a pastry knife until pea sized.
add egg yolks, vanilla, water, and vinegar mix a bit with a fork then finish by working the dough with your hands until it all comes together in a ball.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In the Meantime prepare the apples by quartering, and seeding them. Slice into thin wedges and layer in a buttered baking dish. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until tender but not so tender that they fall apart when picked up.

while apples bake transfer dough to a floured surface. Flatten with the heal of your hand until about 3/4 inch thick, then roll out flat with rolling pin to the size of an 8 inch tart pan. Transfer dough to pan and trim off overlap. Puncture all over with fork. Cover with tin foil and line the foil with dried beans or peas to weigh it down.
After removing apples from the oven, bake dough for about 10 minutes then remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes until golden. The dough may puff up in the middle, so check on it now and then and stab with the fork to stop puffing.

Prepare the pastry cream.
Dissolve the cornstarch in the 2 tbsp of half and half.
In a small mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks, add half and half, then sugar, then vanilla, whisking to incorporate. Heat this mixture in double boiler while whisking, when it begins to steam add the cornstarch mixture. Whisk continuously until mixture thickens significantly to a custard like consistency. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before using.

After pastry cream has chilled spread over crust and layer apples in a fan pattern on top. Ready to serve!