fall apple cinnamon tart

It's a week before Thanksgiving, so naturally this is what's running through my mind majority of the day;

• "Only 6 days 3 hours until I can blast Frank Sinatra's Christmas album & 'Now Christmas' 1, 2, & 3" (I'm not ashamed of the latter, and I bet you secretly like it too.)
• "Is it too early to light an apple cinnamon candle?
• "No. Yes."
• "Screw it, DO IT"
• "It's ok that you're not paying attention in class right now. Planning what you're going to bake throughout the whole month of December is more important anyway. If need be, just offer your kind professors some baked goods. They'll surely understand."
• "You need to organize, you need to clean, you need to buy more candles, you (& your abode) need to be COZY."
• "You're broke. Get off Nasty Gal, get off Urban, get off Anthro."
• "Stop writing this and get your ass to the gym. You're going to be consuming copious amounts of food over the next month and you cannot spare to skip a day. Trust me."

In regards to the first bullet, I usually have a rule where I cannot listen to Christmas music anytime before Thanksgiving. But hey, am I really to blame if my Itunes "accidentally" started playing 'A Very She & Him Christmas' on repeat while I baked up this beauty of a tart? My hands were full of sticky, buttery Pate Brisee and they were not coming close to my keyboard. I mean there was really nothing I could do except make myself listen to it. ;)

If you couldn't already tell/didn't already know, this is my favorite time of the year. It's a time full of insane amounts of baking & cooking, watching classic Christmas movies, drinking Dunkin D's hot chocolate (can't mess with tradition, folks), all whilst enjoying the company of friends and family. Seriously, it's so perfect it makes me smile just thinking about it!

A few more small things to appreciate during this wonderful season; pretty leaves, really good smelling fall & winter candles, said candles lit while watching a Christmas movie and cuddling with your cat, and the simple fact that it's scarf & boot weather.

Alright, so it isn't the best leaf. But it's in my backyard, in Florida mind you, so I take what I can get.

Remember these cute little tart pans? I bought them about a month ago along with some other pretty rad vintage items and I was finally able to put them to use! I decided to test out a recipe for an apple cinnamon tart because I plan to make it for Thanksgiving dessert alongside pumpkin cheesecake. I was so happy with the results and cannot wait to make it again! It may look intimidating, but it's actually quite simple and so delicious.

I was eating very clean up until last weekend when I splurged (a lot) while visiting my best friend. When I got home on Tuesday I told myself that it was back to clean eating until Thanksgiving. Then I made this tart. And then I tasted the crust. And oh. my. goodness. So flaky, so light, so perfect!!

All of the recipes I came across didn't call for cinnamon. Being a huge lover of all things cinnamon, and of course cinnamon-sugar, I knew without a doubt that it would make it's way onto my tart. That decision couldn't have been better I tell ya.

I made a glaze to brush over the tart while it was still warm out of the oven, which I lightly adapted from smitten kitchen. I adored the idea of being resourceful and using the left over scraps from the apples. In addition to the apple scraps, water, and sugar, I also threw in a little vanilla extract because, well, why not? I highly, HIGHLY recommend you don't skip the glaze because it is so full of flavor. I had so much of it left over, and being that it tastes amazing I didn't want to throw it away. It's currently sitting in my fridge while I think of something else to do with it. Maybe a cocktail of some sort or a sweetener for my tea? Double resourceful.... can't get any better than that!

Fall Apple Cinnamon Tart
makes one 9 inch tart
adapted from barefoot contessa, smitten kitchen, & anne burrell

ingredients:
for  the crust

• 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 cup of ice water

for the apples

• 3 golden delicious apples
• 2-4 tablespoons of sugar
• ground cinnamon to dust on top
• 1 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced small

for the glaze

• apple peels, cores, scraps
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• enough water just to cover the scraps
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

steps:

for the crust

Roughly dice the cold butter. In a food processor, combine butter, flour, and salt. Pulse until crumbly and resembles the texture of grated cheese. Through the chute, drizzle in half the cold water and pulse until mixture forms a ball. Add the remaining water if needed and pulse in order to form a dough ball. Remove from food processor, form into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. The dough will be sticky. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

for the apples

Peel and core the apples, and put the scraps aside for the glaze. Slice the apples relatively thin, and set aside while rolling out the dough.

to assemble

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Remove dough from the refrigerator and place  on a floured surface. Flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick, depending on how thin you’d like your crust to be. Lay the dough in your tart pan, with the excess hanging over the sides. Take your rolling pin and roll over the top of the pan to crimp the excess dough for easy removal. Arrange apple slices in any design you’d like, but pack them tightly. Sprinkle the sugar all over the top, I used about 1/8 cup, and dust with as much or as little cinnamon as you’d like. Dice the tablespoon of butter into small cubes, and dot the top of the tart. Bake for 45-50 minutes on the middle rack.

for the glaze

Place all apple scraps plus any left over apple slices in a medium sized sauce pan. Add the sugar, enough water to cover the scraps, and the vanilla extract. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low-medium and let simmer while the tart bakes. The glaze should become slightly thicker as it cooks.

to finish

Remove tart from the oven. While that is slightly cooling, remove glaze from the stovetop and strain through a fine mesh sieve into a medium sized bowl. Discard the scraps. Brush the glaze all over the tart, including the crust. You will have a lot of left over glaze.

Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature and place in an airtight container. It should keep a few days.

Enjoy!