Quick Puff Pastry

By moninikole

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 5 apples, peeled and cut in half
• 4 Tablespoons sugar + more for sprinkling on top
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 Tablespoon white wine, such as reisling
• for glaze: 2 Tablespoons peach or apricot jelly

Preparation

Step 1

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry cutter until the butter is the size of very small peas (work it a little longer than you do for conventional pie dough). Add the sour cream and stir with a fork until the dough clumps. Gather the dough into a disk. Remove dough onto a lightly floured board and form into a rectangle. Chill for one hour in the refrigerator. We will give the dough two “turns” or the process of rolling it out and folding it into thirds: Bring the dough out of the refrigerator and give it the first turn: Roll the rectangle into a rectangle twice its size, keeping the same basic proportions. Fold the top of the dough toward you, about two-thirds over. And then fold the bottom half up over the folded dough. It’s like folding a business letter in thirds. Refrigerate for thirty minutes. Give the dough another turn, repeating the above process. This time refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, or until thoroughly chilled. Combine the sugar, lemon juice and white wine in a large bowl. Peel the apples, cut in half and remove cores. Slice thinly crosswise into arcs and place in the bowl. Turn gently to cover with the sugar mixture. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll the dough out so that it’s an inch larger than a standard sheet tray. Place on the top sheet tray. Arrange the apples in four overlapping rows down the tart, leaving a two-inch border on all sides. (Reserve apple-marinating juice.) Fold the edges up over the apples, making decorative pinched corners if you like. Sprinkle evenly with a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until the pastry has turned deep golden brown and the apples are tender. Put the jelly in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, adding enough of the apple marinating liquid to thin it out a bit. Brush this glaze on the warm tart and serve immediately.