Apple Tart (Gluten-Free)

Merry Christmas everyone! As I was about to bake this apple tart for Christmas evening, I realized it didn’t transfer over to my WordPress.org site, from WordPress.com! So, here it is again, from August. 😉

Now, time to get my bake on – it should be extra easy now that I have my awesome Wonder Woman apron from Mr. Zucchini Runner. 😀

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Let me start off by saying this post is very, VERY overdue! Back at the end of May, Mr. Zucchini Runner and I were up in Northern Arizona with some family, playing cards, watching softball and enjoying walks and runs around this beautiful lake.

During one of many conversations, my sister-in-law told the story of a magical fruit tree that was producing glorious Arizona apples in her brother’s yard. This tree was producing so many apples, they didn’t know what to do with them! UM, YES PLEASE! She knew I would love some for my homemade applesauce and of course, I wanted to experiment making some other delicious treats as well. A couple weeks later I left there with PLENTY of apples to bake with!

Originally I wanted to make a cobbler of some sort, but then opted for something a little more fancy. I adapted this recipe from Vegan Dad, by making it gluten-free and changing some other minor ingredients. It turned out incredible! We ate 2 slices each the night I baked it. Whoops.

The instructions below may appear long and involved, but it’s really not that bad actually. Especially since it is gluten free. Saves on chilling and rolling the dough. 😉 A nice little perk.

Tart Crust
1 1/4 cups GF All Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup Spectrum Shortening
2 tbsp ground flax seed
2 tbsp cold water
2-3 tbsp cold almond milk

Preheat oven to 350°F

Have your 8″ tart pan ready and waiting before you get started. Combine the ground flax seed, water and almond milk in a small dish and set aside. In a large bowl combine the flour and coconut sugar. Spoon in the shortening by the tablespoon and space it out as you plop each blob into the mix. Wash your hands thoroughly. Using your hands, carefully toss the shortening blobs with the mixture until coated, don’t smash the blobs just yet. 😉 Pour the flax mixture over the flour, sugar, shortening mixture. Using your hands again, start mashing it all together. Once it feels 80% incorporated, you can start pressing it into the tart pan. The less you handle the mixture the easier it will be to work with, so be sure not to overwork it. As you are pressing it into the tart pan, try to get it as even as possible and make sure you don’t forget to push it all the way up the sides! 🙂

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, uncovered. You want the crust to be slightly darker and starting to firm up. Cool on counter while you prepare the tart filling.

Tart Filling
2 lbs cooking apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks (I have no idea what kind they were, just golden and magical)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp margarine, melted

2 cooking apples, peeled cored, and thinly sliced
1 tbsp margarine, melted
1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 375°F

In a large bowl combine the 2 lbs of apple chunks, cinnamon, lemon and margarine and toss to thoroughly coat. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven until you can spear a chunk easily with a fork, approximately 20-30 minutes depending on your apples. Once soft, remove and place back into the large mixing bowl. Using a fork, smash the apples to a mushy – yet incredibly delicious – tart filling. Spoon into cooled and cooked tart shell.

Now for the really fun part! Decorate the top of your tart however you would like with your thinly sliced apples! When your pattern is complete (be sure each slice overlaps), bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until heated through.

Once the tart is removed from the oven, use a combo of melted margarine and applesauce to glaze the apples. (I used a rubber pastry brush similar to this one.) You can even sprinkle with a little bit of cinnamon too!

Let cool at least 30 minutes (if you can wait that long) before removing tart pan* and slicing. Enjoy and have fun!

*An easy way to remove the ring portion of the pan is to place the whole pie on top of a can of beans (or something) and let the ring fall down on its own. (See slideshow picture.)

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