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a piece of apple tart with meringue topping on a white plate, leaves in the background
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Apple tart with meringue topping

Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Aleksandra

Ingredients

shortcrust pastry:

  • 1.5 cups flour 6.7oz/190g, spoon and leveled
  • 1/2 cup butter 4oz/115g
  • 3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar 0.9oz/25g
  • pinch of salt
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp cold water or more if needed

apples:

  • 4.4 lbs apples 2kg, about 11 big apples
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 5 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

meringue:

  • 4 large egg whites 5oz/140g
  • 3/4 cup superfine sugar 5.3oz/150g, or a little more than the weight of the egg whites!
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

pastry crust:

  • Separate the eggs into egg yolks and egg whites. Egg yolks will be needed for the shortcrust pastry and the egg whites for the meringue. Weight the egg whites - we add sugar based on their weight (as much sugar as egg whites). Place the egg whites in a clean and dry bowl and place the bowl in the fridge (we'll be making the meringue at the end).
  • Making the dough by hand: stir the flour with confectioner's sugar and salt. Add the cold diced butter and egg yolks. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles a pea-sized crumble (crumble can be of different sizes), add cold water, knead quickly until dough forms a smooth ball (be careful not to over mix it). You can add a little more water if the dough is too dry and does not come together.
  • If you‘re using a stand mixer (my favorite way): add all the ingredients for the pastry except the water into the mixing bowl (flour, salt, sugar, egg yolks, cold diced butter). Mix at the lowest speed using a paddle-shaped attachment, until large lumps are formed (they can be of different sizes, 0.5-1.5 cm / ¼- ½ inch). Add cold water and mix until a smooth dough is formed (be careful not to overmix it). You can add a little more water if the dough is too dry and does not come together.
  • In the food processor: add all the ingredients (without the water) to the food processor bowl. Pulse 2-3 times until the butter pieces are the size of large peas (they can be of different sizes). Add the cold water and pulse until the dough begins to come together (be careful not to over-mix it). Transfer the dough pieces onto a work surface, and gather them with your hands, forming a dough ball. You can add a little more water if the dough is too dry and does not come together.
  • All methods: flatten the dough, wrap in plastic foil and put in the fridge for 1 hour.
  • After putting the dough in the fridge, start making the apple filling.

the apples:

  • Peel the apples, cut them into quarters, core the quarters, cut each quarter into slices.
  • Heat the butter in a large frying pan, then add sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Cook for a minute (the liquid should evaporate a little, especially if you have added more lemon juice as in the recipe).
  • Add the sliced apples and cook, stirring from time to time, until tender. It took me about 20 minutes (read more in the notes). It's important that the apples are not watery!
  • Let the apples cool down.

assemble:

  • Take the dough out of the fridge, place it on a sheet of baking paper and cover with a piece of plastic foil. Roll out into a circle larger than the diameter of the tart pan (with at least 2-inch / 5 cm rim).
  • Transfer the rolled out dough, along with the baking paper into the pan (I used a springform pan, but if you have a tart pan or pie dish you can just grease it with butter and place the dough without the baking paper in the dish. Sprinkle the dough generously with flour, while rolling it out). Prick the bottom of the dough several times with a fork.
  • Add cooled or just slightly warm apples into the dish (it would be better if they were cooled).
  • Put the tart pan in the fridge.
  • To make this tart you'll need a fan oven (convection oven) or a traditional oven with fan function (fan assisted oven). Preheat it to 320°F/160°C. The fan is necessary, it will dry out the meringue, thanks to which its surface with be crunchy and not chewy. It will also ensure that the bottom is cooked through.
  • Next, we will be making the meringue.

meringue:

  • Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat at high speed until the soft peaks are formed - the meringue will be fluffy and if you lift the beater upwards, peaks will form, but they will move sideways when moving the beater.
  • At this stage, we add the sugar, spoon by spoon, waiting for a while after each addition, until it's combined with the egg whites, mixing all the time at high speed.
  • When all the sugar has been added, mix the meringue for another minute. It should be very thick and glossy. If you've used granulated sugar, take a small amount of the meringue and rub it between your fingers. You shouldn't feel the sugar grains.
  • Spread the meringue over the apples, smooth the surface.

bake:

  • Put the apple tart in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes. The meringue should be crispy on top and soft on the inside, the pastry crust fully baked. If the meringue is not crispy on top, you can extend the baking even more by 10 minutes if it doesn't brown too much, or even reduce the temperature to 210°F/100°C to dry out the meringue, if you wish.
  • Set aside for a while to let the apples cool a bit and cut into pieces.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

  • Which apple variety is best: Sour and sweet apple variety will work. When using sweet apples you just need to add more lemon juice (the apple filling should be slightly sour to contrast the sweetness of the meringue). When using very sour apples add more sugar or adjust the sweetness levels to your liking!
  • How long to cook the apples: cooking time depends on apple variety - apples that have rather soft flesh will cook quicker compared to firm flesh apples. It will also depend on how soft you like your apples. I prefer rather crunchy apples with this apple tart, but if you prefer softer apples it will also work, just cook them longer. If you want very soft apples you may need to add more apples - they reduce their volume more and it may be not enough of them to fill the pastry crust. Cooking time depends also on the pan - I found that the apples cook and brown much faster in my black enameled frying pan in comparison to my stainless steel pan. If your apples are just stewing and the water evaporates very slowly, divide the apples between two pans (or a pan and a pot) to cook them faster. If would be better if the apples brown a bit - it will improve their flavor.
  • Which apple variety is best: it's best to use apples that are suitable for baking that have a firm flesh - like Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan. Soft apple varieties will turn into applesauce.
  • Storing and freezing: Store the tart in a tightly-closed container or wrapped in plastic foil. It will last 2-3 days but after a couple of hours the meringue won't be crunchy on top anymore. This apple tart tastes best slightly warm. Freezing is possible but the tart won't taste very good - it will be soft, including the pastry and the meringue.
  • Make ahead: If you want to make this tart ahead you can make the pastry crust and the apple filling. Store them in the fridge for up to 2 days. On the day of baking just roll out the dough, fill with the apple filling, make the meringue and bake. It's important that the meringue is made just before baking.
  • 1 cup of flour (240ml) is 125g, 1 cup of sugar is 200g.

Nutrition

Calories: 416kcal