Rustic Apple Tarts with Apple Cider Reduction and Creme Fraiche

By akselden

Ingredients

• Special equipment needed: 3 1/2-inch
• tart rings or tart pans.
• 2 1/2 cups Muscat
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 to 2 vanilla beans, split and cracked
• 5 to 6 cardamom seeds, cracked
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 2 to 3 cinnamon sticks
• 8 golden delicious apples
• 1 14-ounce package frozen puff pastry

Preparation

Step 1

Combine the first seven ingredients in a large, heavy, flat-bottomed pot and bring to a boil. Cover, turn off heat and let them steep while fruit is being prepared. Peel the apples and put them in lemon water (squeeze a whole lemon into, a bowl full of water) to keep them from browning while you work. Cut the apples into quarters, cut out the cores, then cut the quarters in half again. Poach in batches. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil and add enough apple wedges to cover the surface. Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until a knife slides easily through still-firm fruit. Lift the finished wedges out with a slotted spoon and lay them on a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Cool briefly, then refrigerate. Continue until all the apples are poached. Cool the poaching liquid over an ice bath (a metal bowl placed in a larger bowl filled with ice and some water). When both the apples and the liquid are cold, combine them in a bucket or large bowl and store them in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 425°F, Thaw the puff pastry dough. Working on a cool, liberally floured surface, roll it out to form an 18-by-28-inch rectangle. If the dough is too sticky to roll out easily, return it to the freezer for 15 minutes or more to firm it up. Cut out 12 rounds with a o-inch cake ring (you can also trace a 6-inch bowl or a o-inch cardboard round-simply place it on the pastry and cut with a small, very sharp knife). Rub the inside of the tart rings with butter and dust with flour. Line the rings with the puff pastry rounds, leaving the extra hanging over the edge, and - chill for an hour before; adding the filling. Pipe or spread the brown butter tart filling 1/4 inch into the bottom of the chilled tart shells. Cut the apple wedges in half crosswise and arrange 7 or 8 wedges, cut side down and pointed end up, on top of the tart filling. Fold the excess crust in over the fruit, creating a pleated effect.
Sprinkle the tarts with cinnamon sugar and bake on a cookie sheet for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are golden brown and the filling is no longer white in the center, Rotate the sheet if necessary for even baking. Makes 12 tarts.
Note: These tarts can be assembled and frozen for up to three weeks before baking. If you decide to freeze, do not wrap them until they're fully frozen, and do net thaw them before baking.