Apple Almond Tart. Sweet almond pastry crust topped with almond cream, caramelized apples, apple butter, and crumb topping. Finished tart is brushed with caramel sauce and garnished with candied almond pieces. Served warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
This tart is similar to the chocolate cherry tart I posted a while back. It has several components and takes quite a while to put together. For me this is a dessert that I present to friends and family after several days of building the components, making and baking the tarts.
This tart is a thanksgiving essential. It requires caramel sauce and apple butter on hand. I make the candied almonds and sweet almond pastry dough the day before.
While there are a ton of components to this tart, the one that has to shine is the apple filling. I buy the best baking apples I can at the last possible moment to ensure ripeness and quality. I look for Honeycrisp apples first as usual, but don’t hesitate to buy other varieties if they look and feel fresher.
The apple almond tart has hints of almond throughout. The tart starts with a sweet almond pastry crust. The crust is topped with an almond cream, caramelized apples, an almond flavored crumb topping, a brushing of caramel and candied almonds. While the apples are the star, the almonds are pronounced.
With the various components prepared, the tart assembly goes rather quick. After baking for 45 minutes, I check to see if the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly. The crumb topping may or may not be golden at this point. I will place the tart under the broiler for a minute or two if necessary to finish turning the top golden brown. A brushing of caramel post baking and a sprinkling of crushed candied almonds complete the dessert.
Why You Should Make This Tart
- the tart components can be made well in advance of assembly.
- apple + caramel + almond is a delicious combo.
- Its visually stunning.
- a memorable end to any meal.
How To Make This Apple Almond Tart
This is a several day process for me. And I make several of these tarts at a time to give as gifts, so making sure I have everything on hand is paramount.
The tart is brushed with caramel sauce and topped with chopped candied pecans so I start there. You can check out our recipe for homemade caramel sauce.
For the candied pecans, I add an egg white, water, and vanilla bean paste to a small mixing bowl. I whisk them together until frothy, about 2 minutes. This can also be done in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer.
Whole pecans are added to the egg white mixture and tossed to coat. I usually let them sit in the mix for several minutes, tossing them occasionally. Sugar, ground cinnamon and salt are added to a small bowl and whisked to combine. The sugar mixture is added to the almonds and tossed to coat.
The coated almonds are laid out in a single layer and baked for an hour. The almonds are stirred a couple times to make sure they are not sticking to one another and are baked evenly.
The sweet pastry dough, almond cream, and crumb topping are made from the same set of ingredients, so I make these all at the same time.
For the pastry dough, slightly softened unsalted butter is creamed with powdered sugar. A few tablespoons of lightly beaten egg and vanilla bean paste are added and incorporated.
All-purpose flour and almond flour are added and beaten just long enough to see the dough start to come together. The dough is removed from the stand mixer, shaped into a disc, wrapped in plastic and chilled for an hour, or up to 3 days.
After chilling, the dough is rolled out into a large circle approximately 11 to 12 inches in diameter. The dough is draped over a 9-inch removable bottom tart pan, and fit into the bottom and sides. I usually roll the dough around my rolling pin and then unroll it over the tart pan. It rarely works out perfectly and I have to pinch off a piece or two of dough and patch a few uneven spots.
The dough is topped with a piece of parchment paper. The parchment paper is filled with pie weights or rice. The tart dough is baked in a hot oven until lightly golden and firm, 20 to 25 minutes. The crust is cooled completely.
The almond cream starts with slightly softened unsalted butter creamed with powdered sugar. Vanilla bean paste, heavy cream, and an egg are added and beaten until the mixture is smooth. Almond flour, and all-purpose flour are added and beaten until smooth. The cream is chilled until ready to use. The cream can be made a day or two in advance. I recommend storing it in an airtight container, if not using it within a few hours.
All-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar, cold unsalted butter pieces, and salt are added to a mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, the back of a fork, or your hands the butter is broken into small pieces that are coated in the flour and sugar mixture. The crumb topping is chilled until ready to use.
With the caramel sauce, apple butter, sweet pastry crust, almond cream, and crumb topping prepared and ready for tart creation, I caramelize the apples. While the apples can be sautéed ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use, I usually sauté them, cool them slightly, make and bake my tart.
Butter and brown sugar are melted in a large skillet. The apple slices are added and sautéed for about 10 minutes over medium low heat. Apple cider and a pinch or two of ground cinnamon are added to the apples, and the apples are simmered for about another 10 minutes. The apples will be translucent and soft.
Finally. The tart crust gets an even layer of almond cream spread over the bottom. The caramelized apple slices are arranged over the cream. Apple butter is dolloped over the caramelized apples and spread evenly using an offset spatula. The crumb topping is sprinkled generously over the top of the apple butter. The tart is baked in a hot oven until the edges of the crust are golden and the filling is bubbling. To brown the top, I will place the tart under the broiler for a few seconds.
Once the tart has cooled to some degree, I brush the top with warmed caramel sauce and sprinkle chopped candied almond pieces over the caramel. The tart is removed from the tart pan and place on a serving plate. Individual slices are served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, additional caramel sauce and more chopped candied almonds.
Other Tart Recipes You Might Enjoy
Some of our most popular tarts include apple cider tart, pumpkin maple rum tart, chocolate cherry tart, tangerine cream tart, white peach and cherry tart, and pear apple raspberry walnut tart.
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Apple Almond Tart
Equipment
- 1 (9-inch) removable bottom tart pan
Ingredients
Sweet Almond Pastry Crust:
- 113 grams unsalted butter (1/2 cup OR 1 stick)
- 24 grams powdered sugar (3 tablespoons)
- 30 grams egg, beaten (2 tablespoons)
- 3 grams vanilla bean paste or extract (1/2 teaspoon)
- 128 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup)
- 25 grams almond flour (2 tablespoons)
Almond Cream:
- 40 grams powdered sugar (5 tablespoons)
- 70 grams unsalted butter (5 tablespoons)
- 3 grams vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon)
- 3 grams heavy cream (1/2 teaspoon)
- 50 grams egg (1 large), beaten
- 60 grams almond flour (5 tablespoons)
- 16 grams all-purpose flour (2 tablespoons)
Caramelized Apples:
- 14 grams unsalted butter (1 tablespoon)
- 36 grams light brown sugar (3 tablespoons)
- 1200 grams peeled, cored and thickly sliced apple (about 5 large baking apples)
- 3 grams ground cinnamon (1 teaspoon)
- 30 grams apple cider OR apple juice OR water (2 tablespoons)
- 5 grams fresh lemon juice (1 teaspoon)
Crumb Topping:
- 42 grams all-purpose flour (1/3 cup)
- 33 grams almond flour (1/3 cup)
- 60 grams granulated sugar (5 tablespoons)
- 42 grams unsalted butter (3 tablespoons), cold + cubed
- 2 grams fine sea salt (1/2 teaspoon)
Candied Almonds:
- 30 grams egg white (from 1 large egg)
- 5 grams vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
- 10 grams tablespoon water (2 teaspoons)
- 224 grams whole almonds (8 ounces), skin on or off
- 50 grams granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1 gram ground cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon)
- 3 grams fine sea salt (1/2 teaspoon)
Tart Assembly:
- 40 grams caramel sauce (2 tablespoons), warm
- 80 grams apple butter (1/4 cup)
Instructions
Sweet Almond Pastry Crust:
- Cream butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add beaten egg and vanilla bean paste to stand mixer. Beat on low until combined.
- Add all-purpose flour and almond flour to stand mixer. Beat on low just until combined.
- Flatten dough into disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Bring dough to room temperature. Roll dough into 11-inch circle on lightly floured flat surface. Fit dough into bottom and sides of 9-inch removable bottom tart pan. Trim edges. Using a fork, prick the dough on the bottom of the pan in a dozen or so evenly spaced places.
- Line dough with parchment paper. Fill parchment with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Remove pie weights and parchment paper. Cool sweet pastry crust to room temperature.
Almond Cream:
- Add powdered sugar and unsalted butter to stand mixer bowl. Cream with paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add vanilla bean paste, heavy cream, and egg to stand mixer bowl. Beat on low until combined.
- Add almond flour and all-purpose flour to stand mixer bowl. Beat on low until cream is smooth.
- Transfer cream to small bowl. Cover bowl with plastic. Chill until ready to use.
Caramelized Apples:
- Add unsalted butter and brown sugar to large skillet. Heat over medium heat until butter and brown sugar have melted and begin to bubble.
- Add apple slices and ground cinnamon to skillet. Sauté over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add apple cider and fresh lemon juice to skillet. Simmer apples 10 additional minutes or until apples are opaque and have softened considerably.
- Remove from heat and cool completely. Set aside.
Crumb Topping:
- Add all-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar, unsalted butter, and salt to mixing bowl.
- Combine ingredients using pastry blender or the back of a fork until mixture resembles coarse sand.
Candied Almonds:
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a cookie or baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat mat.
- Add egg white, vanilla bean paste and water to small bowl. Whisk until frothy, about 2 minutes.
- Add almonds to egg white mixture. Stir to combine.
- Add sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt to small bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add sugar mixture to almonds. Stir to coat.
- Spread coated almonds evenly in single layer with space onto prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes.
- Remove cookie sheet from oven and place on wire rack. Cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for several weeks at room temperature.
Tart Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a baking sheet on the lower third rack.
- Top sweet pastry crust with almond cream. Spread evenly with offset spatula.
- Arrange caramelized apples over almond cream.
- Spread apple butter over caramelized apples. Smooth apple butter with offset spatula.
- Sprinkle reserved almond crumb topping over apple butter.
- Bake until topping is golden, about 45 minutes.
- Remove tart from oven and cool on wire rack. Remove tart from tart pan.
- Brush tart top with warm caramel sauce. Sprinkle with chopped candied almonds.
- Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
