How to Make French Apple Tart Recipe With Pastry Cream (2024)

French Desserts
Dessert Tarts
Moroccan Desserts
Fruit Recipes
Apple Recipes

Christine Benlafquih

Christine Benlafquih is a freelance writer and cooking class instructor with a background in Moroccan cuisine.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

Updated on 01/6/23

Tested by

Kayla Hoang

Tested byKayla Hoang

Kayla Hoang is a freelance recipe developer, writer, and baker whose Bangladeshi and Vietnamese roots influence all she does. Her life revolves around food and she can almost always be found waiting by the oven for a fresh batch of cookies.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

Ingredients

For the Pastry Dough:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cupunsalted butter, cold,cut into bits
1 large egg yolk
Ice-cold water

For the Pastry Cream:

3 large egg yolks
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup whole milk
1vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoonvanilla extract

For the Apple Layer:

3 large or 4 small apples, preferably firm and tart
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the Glaze:

1/4 cup apricot jam
1 tablespoon lemon juice or water

Steps to Make It

Make the Pastry Dough

Gather the ingredients.
Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
Add the cold butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.
Work in the egg yolk until the mixture looks like a fine meal.
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Then use a fork to stir in ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough can be gathered together and pressed into a ball.
Shape and flatten the dough into a smooth disc shape, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Make the Pastry Cream

Gather the ingredients.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.
Whisk in the flour and cornstarch until smooth; set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the milk with vanilla bean almost to boiling. If using vanilla extract, add it later in step 6.
Remove the vanilla bean, then slowly and gradually whisk the milk into the egg mixture.
Strain the mixture back into the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking or stirring constantly, until thickened. Continue cooking for another half minute while stirring, then remove from the heat. Whisk in the vanilla extract, if using.
Lay a piece of plastic film on the surface of the pastry cream. Cool down the pastry cream by either chilling it in the fridge or over an ice bath, stirring from time to time.

Assemble and Bake the Tart

Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C.
Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples.
Place the slices in a bowl and toss gently with the sugar and cinnamon.
If the apples start to brown, you can toss in a tablespoon of lemon juice.
Roll out the pastry into a circle about 1/8-inch thick and fit into a 9-inchtart pan, trimming the excess dough.
Give the chilled pastry cream a good whisk to loosen and smooth it out. Spread the pastry cream across the bottom of the pastry shell.
Arrange the apple slices in a pattern over the pastry cream and dot the apples with tiny bits of butter.
Wrap strips of aluminum foil around the edges of the tart pan to protect the crust from burning.
Bake the tart in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes.
Remove the foil, and continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until the apples and crust are nicely colored.
Remove the tart to a rack to cool.
While the tart is still warm, heat the apricot jam with the lemon juice until boiling.
Strain the mixture.
Then use a pastry brush to apply the apricot glaze over the apples.
Refrigerate the tart when it has cooled completely.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Tips

For greater ease transferring the tart into and out of the oven, build the tart in the tart pan set on a rimmed baking sheet. Baking the tart on a baking sheet will not change the cook time.
The sugar quantity in the pastry recipe below is for a less sweet shortcrust; if you'd prefer a sweeter pastry dough, follow the pate sucree recipe instead.

Recipe Variation

Alternate versions of this recipe include theFrench strawberry tartand theFrench peach tart.

French Dessert Recipes

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
432	Calories
18g	Fat
63g	Carbs
8g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	432
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 18g	23%
Saturated Fat 10g	49%
Cholesterol 176mg	59%
Sodium 191mg	8%
Total Carbohydrate 63g	23%
Dietary Fiber 3g	11%
Total Sugars 37g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 5mg	27%
Calcium 71mg	5%
Iron 2mg	10%
Potassium 218mg	5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

apple
dessert
french
fall

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How to Make French Apple Tart Recipe With Pastry Cream (2024)

FAQs

What are the best apples for apple tarts? ›

Apple tarts have long been a favorite; served hot or room temperature, they are always a crowd-pleaser. Be sure to have Golden Delicious or Jonagold apples on hand for an exceptional tart you won't soon forget. Braeburn is another great choice thanks to its sweet-tart and spicy flavor.

Discover More Details ›

What is a French apple tart Wiki? ›

The tarte Tatin (French pronunciation: [taʁt tatɛ̃]), named after the Tatin sisters who invented it and served it in their hotel as its signature dish, is a pastry in which the fruit (usually apples) is caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked.

What pan can I use for a tart? ›

If you're looking for one that will work well for most tart recipes, a 9.5 inch tart pan is a versatile option. 2. Depth: Tart pans also vary in depth, with shallower pans typically used for fruit tarts and deeper pans for custard-based tarts.

Find Out More ›

Which apple is the most tart? ›

Which varieties are considered tart apples? The apple with the tartest flavor on the Apple Sweetness Scale is the Granny Smith apple. You can spot them by looking for their bright green skin! Other tart apples include: Pink Lady^®, Braeburn, McIntosh, Jonathan, Empire, and Cortland apples.

Keep Reading ›

What's the difference between apple pie and apple tart? ›

The main difference is that tarts only have a bottom crust, and the crust is much thicker than a pie crust. Galettes – This is basically a pie made without using a pie dish, but because that would be too simple galettes can be made with any type of pastry dough.

Know More ›

What are the best tart apples to bake with? ›

Granny Smith (Tart)

Granny Smiths are typically my go-to apple for baking, so I'll always have them on hand during the fall months.

What kind of apples are tart apples? ›

Granny Smith, McIntosh, and Pink Lady fall on the tart end of the spectrum. While tart apples can be great for snacking, they're often ideal for baking and can handle a lot of added sweetness. Other types, like Braeburn and Golden Delicious apples, fall somewhere in the middle.

Know More ›

What are the top 5 apples for baking? ›

For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

What are the three best apples for apple pie? ›

If you prioritize a more puckery pie, use mostly Granny Smiths and toss in a Honeycrisp and a Jonagold. If you like your apples to slump and soften, use mostly Golden Delicious with a Braeburn thrown in.