Apple and Cinnamon Tart

Serves 8

Ingredients

Pastry

200g plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
125g butter
1 egg-beaten

Filling

1.34kg bramley apples-peeled, cored and sliced
50g caster sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
25g butter-melted
3 tbsp apricot jam
Icing sugar-to serve

Method

In a large bowl rub the butter into the flour and sugar until crumbly. Mix in the egg until it forms a dough, then form into a disc and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to gas mark 6. Roll the pastry out onto a floured work surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Line a 23cm tart tin with excess pastry hanging off the edges. Line with a disc of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the greaseproof paper and beans, then bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the pastry is biscuity. Trim away any excess pastry. Set aside to cool.

Set aside roughly the slices of 4 apples. Place the other apples in a saucepan with 2 tbsp water, ½ tbsp of ground cinnamon and all but 1 tbsp of the sugar and cook for 25-30 minutes until the apples have made a puree. Add more sugar if needed. Turn the oven to gas mark 8.

Spread the apple puree over the tart base and evenly arrange the apples, sprinkling a bit of the cinnamon in between layers of apple slices. Brush the apples with the melted butter and sprinkle over the 1 tbsp of sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Now warm the jam. Once the tart is cooked, remove from the oven and brush over the warmed jam. Leave to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the tin, then dust with icing sugar and serve for a scrummy tea time treat.