Seth Greenberg's Free Form Apple Tart

Incomparable baker Seth Greenberg was recently a guest on Martha Stewart’s radio show where he demonstrated how to make a free-form apple tart. A Scarsdale10583 reader listened to the show but was unable to find the recipe. She got in touch with the site and we were able to contact Seth who was kind enough to share it with us. It looks like the perfect fall dessert.

If you’re a fan of Seth’s creations but prefer to buy them rather than make them yourself, visit his website where you can order homemade brownies, cookies and sticky buns. They are great to serve to your guests or bring as a gift.

Here is the recipe for the tart, courtesy of Seth Greenberg.

Seth Greenberg’s Just Desserts Free-Form Apple Tart
Yield: One Fabulous Tart

Ingredients:
Dough

• 1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
• 1 Stick (8 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, cold, cut into small pieces
• 3 Tablespoons Ice Water
• 1/2 teaspoons Lemon Zest (1 small lemon’s worth)
• Juice of 1 small lemon (approx. 1 TBL)

Filling

• 4 Large Apples (approx 1.5 lbs) Jonagold or other baking apple
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, cold, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1) Cut cold butter into flour until mixture forms coarse meal. Add water, lemon zest and juice. Mix until dough forms. Knead just until smooth. Flatten into a disk, wrap tightly and chill for about 30 minutes.

2) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3) Peel, core and slice apples.

4) On lightly floured surface roll dough into rough 13 in. diameter circle. Roll onto pin and transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Leaving the outside two inches uncovered, arrange sliced apples in concentric circles ending in the center. Sprinkle with the nutmeg and sugar. Dot with the 2 TBL cold butter pieces.

5) Fold the edge of the dough up over the apples. A few moments of time spent here to make a pattern of the folds will show very well in the final appearance.

6) Bake tart for 15 minutes, reduce oven to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 35 minutes, or until apples are tender and dough is golden brown. Remove from oven and slide onto wire rack to cool. Serve warm.