dutch apple tart

dutch apple tart

17 Mar 2025

Way back in 2013 I shared a recipe for a Dutch Apple Tart. These days I bake most of my cakes in a small tin and when I checked the recipe it was for a 23 cm tart, even though I'd baked the tart in a 17 cm springform tin. For some reason, I'd not downsized the recipe.

Earlier this year I took out 'Comfort' by Ottolenghi and co-authors Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley and immediately bookmarked the Dutch Apple Cake recipe by Verena Lochmuller. The Dutch Apple Cake is pretty much a Dutch apple tart which has dispensed with the lattice top for a pastry round. It's as much a cake as it is a tart as the pastry shell contains some self raising flour, making it softer than a regular pastry. 

With apples back in the fruit shop I decided to remake the recipe, this time downsizing the recipe to match my 17 cm tin. There was no point re-inventing the wheel, so I used my own pastry recipe but adapted the filling from the recipe in Comfort. The filling recipe contained both black treacle and mahleb, neither of which I had in the cupboard. Instead of treacle, I increased the quantity of brown sugar and I left out the mahleb. My apples being new season were very tart and although I increased the quantity of sugar in the filling, it needed a little more and I've adapted the recipe to reflect this. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17 cm tart. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Dutch Apple Tart (makes one 17 cm tart)
Pastry
100g plain flour 
100g self-raising flour
pinch salt
120g unsalted butter
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tsp lemon rind
1 egg, beaten
Few tablespoons milk

Filling
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1 cm chunks (280g)
2 Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1 cm chunks (160g)
20g flaked almonds, toasted and roughly crushed
25g raisins soaked in 25ml dark rum (or apple juice)
15g unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp lemon juice
40-55g light soft brown sugar (depends on how tart your apples are)
pinch salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
10g panko breadcrumbs
2 tsp custard powder or semolina

Assembly

2 tsp custard powder or semolina
1-2 tsp white sugar

To serve
Whipped cream

Pastry
In a food processor combine the flours, salt and the sugars. Add the butter and process until the mixture forms breadcrumbs. Add 3/4 of the egg to the flour mixture and reserve the rest.  Add the vanilla extract and a little milk if needed and process until a soft dough forms around the blades. 

Remove the dough from the processor, knead lightly to form a ball, flatten it out slightly before wrapping the dough in plastic and placing in the fridge for 1 hour.

Filling
Place the apples in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 minutes or until just softened. Cool a little before combining the remaining filling ingredients. Mix together until well combined.

Assembly
Butter a 17 cm round springform cake pan. This is a very soft dough, so generously dust the bench top with flour. Roll out ⅔ of the pastry and line the base and sides of the tin with the pastry. Spoon 2 tsp of custard powder or semolina over the pastry base followed by the filling.

Roll out the remaining dough. Cut the dough into 1-cm strips and layer them over the apple filling to form a lattice. Fold down the excess pastry to cover the lattice and press to seal. Brush the remaining egg over the lattice then sprinkle the top of the tart with a little extra sugar. If you don’t feel like making a lattice, just roll out the pastry into a round large enough to cover the top of the tart. Press to seal, remove any excess pastry then brush the pastry with the egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Place the tart on a baking tray and bake on the middle shelf of the preheated 180°C, conventional oven, for about 1 hour 15 minutes. I covered the top of the tart with foil after 30 minutes to prevent it over browning. The apples were still a little uncooked so I left the tart in the switched off oven for a further 15 minutes.

Remove the tart from the oven and leave it to cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. Carefully run a small knife between the tart and the sides of the tin before releasing the spring lock. Cut into thick wedges and serve with the whipped cream served on the side. 

The almonds added a little bit of texture to the filling and the sugar, a little crunch to the pastry. Topped with a dollop of cream this made for a nice comforting dessert and good enough for my brother to ask for a second slice.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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dutch apple tart 2013

dutch apple tart 2013

25 Nov 2013

I've been planning to remake this Dutch apple tart for some time. I went over to my friend's place for dinner last weekend and as it's my custom to bring dessert, I dusted off my cute little spring form tin and set to work. I had to scale back the recipe a little to fit the tin and made a few changes to the original recipe which I thought would improve the finished product.



I've bought a few new styling props the past month or so. Can you spot my new finds?



I almost had a disaster on my way to dinner. I had to take evasive action to avoid a collision resulting in a slightly squashed tart. We managed to find a piece that was undamaged for me to photograph and the rest was eaten.




The tart does take some time to put together. I made the pastry on Saturday night and put the tart together early on Sunday morning so the tart had time to cool before our trip across the Harbour Bridge.



Here's the recipe for you which I adapted from here.

Dutch Apple Tart (makes one 23 cm/9 inch tart)

Pastry

1 cup plain flour and 1 cup self raising flour, sifted together

180 g (6½ oz) unsalted butter

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 egg, beaten

Few tablespoons milk

Extra sugar

Filling

8 large green apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped

50 g sultanas (golden raisins)

⅓ - ½ cup caster sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more to taste)
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

One 20 ml tablespoon lemon juice (or more to taste)

Three 20 ml tablespoons custard powder

Pastry

In a food processor combine the flours and the sugars.

Add the butter and process until the mixture forms breadcrumbs

Add 3/4 of the egg to the flour mixture and reserve the rest. 

Add the vanilla extract and a few tablespoons of milk if needed and process until a soft dough forms around the blades. 

Remove the dough from the processor, knead lightly to form a ball, flatten it out slightly before wrapping the dough in plastic and placing in the fridge for 1 hour.

Filling

In a large bowl, combine the apples, the sultanas, the sugar, the spices, the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the custard powder. If the apples are very tart, you may need to add a little more sugar. Mix well and allow the flavors to blend, stirring occasionally. Set to one side while lining the tin.

Method

Butter a 9-inch round spring form cake pan and line the base with baking paper. Roll out ¾ of the pastry and line the base and sides of the tin with the pastry.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the custard powder over the pastry base. Gently spoon in half the apple filling, leaving the juices behind. Sprinkle the remaining custard powder over the apples before adding the rest of the filling.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining dough. Cut the dough into 1 cm strips and layer them over the apple pie to form a lattice. Brush the remaining egg over the lattice then sprinkle the top of the tart with a little extra sugar.

Bake the tart at 180°C / 350°F on the middle shelf, for about 1 hour 15 minutes. I covered the top of the tart after 30 minutes to prevent it over browning. The apples were still a little uncooked so I left the tart in the switched off oven for a further 30 minutes.

Allow the tart to cool completely before unmoulding from the tin. Serve with cream or ice cream or both. I had a small piece of the apple tart last night and it was scrumptious.

If you have any leftover dough, you can roll the dough out, cut into strips and brush the cookies with any leftover egg, then sprinkle with sugar and bake the cookies for about 10 minutes while the tart is in the oven. When they came out of the oven, they tasted just like the biscuits my Grandmother used to make.

I'll be back again later this week with my last travel post from Tasmania.

See you all again soon,

Jillian

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Dutch Apple Tart

Dutch Apple Tart

29 Aug 2011

Miss B is growing up and fast. She can now ride a bike without training wheels, something I can't do, and she was happy to show off her skills for me.



Whenever I visit Miss B, I bring dessert with me. Miss B's brother Ruin is my harshest critic, so it's always a challenge coming up with something that will please his palate. If it's not apple or lemon, he won't eat it.



I decided to try out this recipe for Dutch apple tart similar to the ones I saw being served at Cafe Winkel in Amsterdam.



I prepared the filling the night before I baked the tart.



I'd planned to go the gym Sunday morning but the tart took a lot longer to prepare and bake than I'd anticipated.



In fact, the tart only came out of the oven about an hour before I was due to
leave.



The verdict - Ruin ate a massive piece and Miss B had a second helping so it must have been okay.

Did you have a nice weekend? I spent Saturday at home chained to the dining table while I finally completed my tax return. Life has been so busy that I've yet to finish unpacking from last weekend's trip away and I'm struggling to fit the gym into my schedule. Some days I need another me... It wasn't all work though as I made it to the gym Sunday morning and met one of my friends for dinner on Sunday night.

See you all again on Wednesday,

Jillian

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