So simple, so delicious, creamy apple tart, also gluten free
One of my October 2012 recipes for Beyond Celiac, formerly National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
According to John Keats in his ‘Ode to Autumn’ this is meant to be the Season of Mists and mellow fruitfulness. You could have fooled me. After the summer’s heat, I think this Autumn needs to make its mind up. But try to make the most of what little decent weather we have left and get out picking apples with the kids at one of the local apple orchards. When you come home with more apples than you intended picking (isn’t it always the way) then make this delicious apple tart/cheesecake. The kids can help, it doesn’t take long to prepare and tastes wonderful. Note that the crust is like a shortbread, so rich and crumbly, not due to insufficient xanthan gum. My regular flour recipe crumbled the same way. One of my girlfriends who doesn't bake, made this (wheat version) for competition at work and got honorable mention - which for her is amazing.
Crust:
1/2 c my gf flour mix
¼ c almond meal/almond flour
¼ tsp xanthan gum
¼ c powdered sugar
¾ stick (3oz) butter, Earth Balance or a stick margarine you like – not ‘lite’/tub margarine.
1 tsp gluten free vanilla or almond essence - optional
Filling:
8 oz cream cheese softened (lite aka neufchatel low fat is fine)
¼ c gf egg substitute or 1 egg (make sure you use an egg substitute that does not contain onion/garlic powder)
1 tsp gluten free vanilla or almond essence -
2 tsp gf cornstarch - tested with Argo
¼ c sugar
3 Granny Smith Apples,(or similar crisp apples) peeled, cored, thinly sliced and cut into 8ths- not huge chunks
Topping:
4 tbsp butter
1/2 c light brown sugar
½-1 c sliced almonds or chopped pecans or other nuts.
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Place crust ingredients in mixing bowl and using electric mixer or by hand rub in butter until mix resembles moist, golden breadcrumbs but does not form a dough.
3. Press onto bottom and half way up sides of 9 “ pie plate. If you use butter straight from the fridge and use a food processor, the mix will only form breadcrumbs not a dough. (if the butter/marg was very soft this can be quite sticky to do.).
4.Bake in oven for 15 – 20 minutes until slightly shrunken and tinged brown. Evenly brown gives a crispy crust throughout. Remove from oven.
5. While crust is baking, and in same mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, egg substitute, vanilla, cornstarch and sugar until well blended and creamy looking. Mix in apples.
6. Spoon apple mixture into partially baked crust. This will have a very full appearance and will be over the height of the crust but it won’t overflow or rise too much.
7. In small non-stick saucepan or in the microwave, melt butter over medium heat. Turn the heat off and stir in butter, almonds and cinnamon until they are evenly coated. If it cools too rapidly, then the nuts will start clumping together, so just warm through on low heat. Gently spoon over apple mixture.
8. Bake in the 350* oven for about 55 minutes, covering the top if it seems to be browning too much.
The tart needs this length of cooking otherwise the apples will be too firm, they do not really go soft anyway. Additionally, the cornstarch in the cheese mix needs to be cooked out, otherwise you will taste a raw floury texture when you eat the tart. The cream cheese mixture will appear cooked and set by the 30 minute mark but requires the extra cooking time. I like a crispy, crunchy top so I use a lots of nuts etc for the topping. You can use less. But the texture differences are wonderful.
