First, I must apologize if my pictures look… off for a little while. My favorite lens met its maker on Christmas Eve. Well maybe not its maker, but at least the hardwood floor.

<<observed moment of silence>>

ANYHOO. The tart.

I’ve been wanting to try this tart dough recipe for a while now because who ever heard of melting the butter first? I figured it was definitely worth a shot. And it was great! A totally new way to make it, and totally fun to play with.

Definitely read through David’s instructions before making this. He is, obviously, the expert here, and has lots of great information in that post. But here is what I did:

Apple Craisin tart

Ingredients

• 90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (canola works great)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 150 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) flour

• 4 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup craisins

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 410F
2. Put butter, oil, water, sugar and salt in an oven-safe bowl
3. Place in preheated oven and let cook for 15 minutes till mixture is bubbling and the butter is starting to brown a bit at the edges
4. Remove from oven (carefully! It will sizzle) and dump in flour (mixture will sizzle more here), stirring quickly to combine. As David says, it’s not usual practice to have a hot mixing bowl on the counter so keep reminding yourself not to grab the bowl with your bare hand
5. Plop the dough into a tart pan or cast iron skillet (because, hey, any excuse to use cast iron) and pat it out a little with your spoon; wait for it to cool enough to handle, then use the heel of your hand and your fingers to gently press into place on the bottom and up the sides. At this point David recommends blind baking for 15 minutes, then cooling, then filling. I hate blind baking. So:
6. Bump oven temperature up to 425F
7. Toss thinly sliced apples in lemon juice to prevent browning, then add in lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and Craisins; stir to evenly coat everything (I used my hands)
8. Spoon into unbaked dough and bake for 15 minutes at 425, then lower oven temp to 350F; cook for another 25-30 minutes or until apples are super soft and crust is browned
9. DO NOT CUT RIGHT AWAY. I know, I know. But you have to let it sit long enough for the juices to thicken up or it’ll just run everywhere
10. Cool, slice, then foist upon your neighbors to prevent yourself from eating all of it straight out of the pan