Apple Crumble Tart
- Rahul Mandal
- Sep 12
- 2 min read
This tart is a real comfort dessert - something warm, hearty and wholesome. It will give you a hug on those cloudy, chilly, pre-autumn days. When the supermarket shelves are being stacked with apples, it's hard to resist not using them – and if you have your own apple tree, all the better!
The different elements of this dessert can be made in advance and you can even replace some with shop bought alternatives. For example, feel free to replace the apple sauce with a standard supermarket alternative and tinned caramel will still be tasty in the caramel cream cheese layer.
Ingredients
One 20cm blind baked pastry case
For the spiced apple frangipane
50g salted butter
50g dark brown sugar
1 medium free-range egg
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
70g ground almonds
75g chopped apple + 1 tbsp of flour
For the apple sauce
Use a shop bought one if you prefer, else you can make your own with following ingredients.
100g chopped apple
1 star anise
1-inch whole cinnamon
1tbsp caster sugar
For crumble topping
50g oats
50g flour
50g salted butter
50g demerara sugar
20g sunflower seeds and flaked almonds
Caramel cream cheese layer
200g cream cheese
100g caramel
Method
Preheat the oven to 170oC Fan. To make the frangipane, whisk butter and sugar till creamy. Then whisk in the egg. Add the spices followed by ground almonds and mix. Finally, toss the chopped apple in 1 tbsp of flour and fold in the frangipane. Spread the frangipane on blind baked pastry case and bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 mins. Take it out and let it cool completely.
While the frangipane is baking, make the crumble topping. Rub together butter, sugar, oats and flour to get the texture of wet sand. Fold in the seeds and nuts. Spread the mixture on a lined baking tray and bake for 14-15 mins till golden.
Whisk together cream cheese and caramel to soft peaks and set aside to be used as the caramel cream cheese layer. Once all the individual parts are baked and cooled, you can start assembling.
Spread a layer of apple sauce on top of the frangipane, followed by a layer of the caramel cream cheese. Then top with lots of crumble topping. If you wish then you can decorate the edges of the tart with more caramel cream cheese, but this is completely optional.