French Apple Tart with Currant-Rum Butter

Stop the show, because this French Apple Tart with Rum-Currant Butter was not only stunning but ridiculously delicious!  This French Apple Tart with Rum-Currant Butter may have been the best thing I’ve had in awhile and quite frankly may be my new favorite dessert, seriously it’s that good!

It was crazy because while making this I realized it was really a component of a few different things.  For instance, the crust is a simple crust that I’ve made a million times.  It starts with Bob’s Red Mill® All-Purpose Flour, some butter, salt and water and boom, always a delicious crust.  Bob’s Red Mill® All-Purpose Flour is unbleached, freshly milled from premium U.S. dark northern hard red wheat. Both the bran and the germ have been removed leaving the endosperm that is made into white flour.

When making this you can use a few different apples, honey crisps, galas or golden delicious.  Just simply peel, remove the seeds and slice it thin.  Not paper thin, but about an 1/8” thick.  The bottom part to the French Apple Tart with Rum-Currant Butter underneath the apples is something called frangipane.  It’s almost like an almond butter and is really, really delicious.  Try not to eat too much of it :-).

I know it’s a “French Apple Tart” but I literally felt like was in France after I laid eyes on this thing.  It reminded me of advanced baking class in culinary school and a few little French cafes I’ve visited over the years.  It really looks beautiful!

The top of that apple tart is brushed with apricot jam.  It’s as simple as heating it up in a pan until it liquefies.  From there you brush the top of the tart when it comes out of the oven and then it cools all shiny and stuff :-).

And now for the rum-currant butter. DUDE!!!!!! It’s like magic in my mouth, I want to drink it!  Cook up ½ cup of dark rum, juice of ½ lemon and ½ cup brown sugar until it is reduced in the amount to 1/3, and then finish with 4 ounces of unsalted butter.  When serving it sprinkle on some currants.

I served all of this deliciousness with a nice scoop of salted caramel ice cream. A perfect combo, literally.

Check out my homies over at Bob’s Red Mill at BobsRedMill.com to see all of their amazing products, tips and recipes.  They are a great follow to, see below:

• Facebook.com/bobsredmillnaturalfoods
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French Apple Tart with Currant-Rum Butter

Sink your teeth into this tempting French Apple Tart with Currant-Rum Butter that is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Course Dessert

Author Chef Billy Parisi

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill® All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 12 ounces of cold cut up unsalted butter
• 4 to 6 ounces of ice cold water

For the Frangipane:

• 1 cup of Bob’s Red Mill® Almond Meal/Flour
• ½ cup of sugar
• 5 tablespoons of cut up cold unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons of dark rum
• 1 egg
• Kosher salt to taste

For the Apples:

• 3 peeled cored and thinly sliced gala apples
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 3 ounces of cut up cold unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons of melted apricot jam

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Dough: In a food processor, process flour, sugar and salt until combined. next add in the butter and bacon fat and process until the fat is the size of a small pea. At this point add in 1 tablespoon of cold water at a time until the dough moistens up.
3. Next, sprinkle on some flour to a cutting board and place the pie dough on the floured surface.
4. Form, do not over work, two dough balls from the pie dough.
5. Once formed chill immediately in the refrigerator over night or in the freezer for 30 minutes.
6. Once it is chilled sprinkle more flour onto a surface and roll out the dough balls until they are large enough to fill up a 14" long spring form tart tin.
7. Lay down one of the rolled out dough balls into the pie tin and set the other aside.
8. Frangipane: Combine all ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth.
9. Spread the frangipane down into the center of the formed pie dough.
10. Next, layer on the sliced apples and then sprinkle on the sugar and evenly place on the butter chunks.
11. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes or until the apples are soft and lightly browned.
12. Remove the tart from the oven and brush on the apricot jam all over.
13. Cool to room temperature and serve with optional rum-currant butter and salted caramel ice cream.