GERMAN FRUIT TART RECIPES

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5. Put a baking sheet in the oven to get hot.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and 1-2 tbsp water to mix to a firm dough. Roll into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry and use to line a 23cm tart tin, leaving any excess overhanging the edge. Line with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and bake blind in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until golden. Leave to cool then, using a sharp knife, trim the top of the pastry case.

Tip the evaporated milk and sugar into a large bowl and, using an electric hand mixer on full power, whisk together for 15 minutes until the mixture resembles a light coffee-coloured, creamy foam that doesn’t quite hold peaks.

Pour the mixture into the tart tin and bake for 20 minutes on the hot baking sheet. When cooked, the filling should be lightly set with a sticky surface. Leave to set overnight in the fridge. 

1. Preheat your oven to 190˚C/375˚F/gas 5. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll out your puff pastry until it’s just over 0.5cm thick. This will be enough to cover the ovenproof frying pan you’ll be cooking the tarte Tatin in, leaving about 5cm extra around the edge. Put the pastry to one side for now. Peel your apples, then halve them horizontally and use a teaspoon to get rid of the seeds and core.
2. Put the ovenproof pan on a medium heat and add the sugar, Calvados, vanilla seeds and pod. Let the sugar dissolve and cook until the mixture forms a light caramel. Just please remember never ever to touch or taste hot caramel, as it can burn really badly.
3. Once the caramel looks and smells delicious – it should be a lovely chestnut brown – add your halved apples. Carefully stir everything in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples start to soften and you get a toffee apple vibe happening. Add the cubed butter, then lay the pastry over the top. Quickly and carefully tuck the pastry down right into the edges – it’s best to use a wooden spoon so you don’t touch the caramel.
4. Bake the tarte Tatin for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden, with crispy caramelly pieces bubbling up from under the edges. Take it out of the oven. To make it look like a tarte Tatin you need to turn it out, which isn't hard – but you do need to be careful with that hot caramel. So get a serving plate or board larger than your pan and put an oven glove on to protect the arm holding the board. Put the board or plate on top of the pan, then quickly, carefully and confidently turn it out. Put it to one side for a few minutes, so the caramel can cool down, then divide it up and serve with a spoonful of crème fraîche or ice cream.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5. Put a baking sheet in the oven to get hot.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and 1-2 tbsp water to mix to a firm dough. Roll into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry and use to line a 23cm tart tin, leaving any excess overhanging the edge. Line with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and bake blind in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until golden. Leave to cool then, using a sharp knife, trim the top of the pastry case.

Tip the evaporated milk and sugar into a large bowl and, using an electric hand mixer on full power, whisk together for 15 minutes until the mixture resembles a light coffee-coloured, creamy foam that doesn’t quite hold peaks.

Pour the mixture into the tart tin and bake for 20 minutes on the hot baking sheet. When cooked, the filling should be lightly set with a sticky surface. Leave to set overnight in the fridge.