French Fridays with Dorie: Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart

Oh my. This dessert for French Fridays with Dorie was much anticipated. And it happened to coincide with Canadian Thanksgiving – could there be a better dessert for Thanksgiving for a non-pumpkin pie-loving baker than this – layers of filo pastry (with butter and sugar – mmmm!) topped with almond pastry cream and crunchy apples baked until it’s crispy underneath and the apples are just soft? I was very excited to make this Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart (p 458).

It felt a bit weird cooking it with the apples uncovered and when it came out of the oven, both Mr Neil and I were a little disappointed. It didn’t look amazing – in fact, it looked kinda dry 🙁 I coated it, per Dorie’s instructions, with some jam/ marmalade and it looked slightly better (and no, I didn’t strain the marmalade – hence the “bits”. I figured that we would be eating dessert when it was much darker anyway 😉 ) I was still a bit worried about it. The layers of filo (which had been so easy to work with – I was surprised) were kind of flat  and thin. I had expected them to be puffy and lovely.

Despite not looking as lovely as I had hoped, this was, in fact, a stunning dessert. SO unusual to be crispy and crackly and soft all at the same time.  It was perfect at room temperature then even more perfect the next day zapped in the microwave for a few seconds to take the chill off. It didn’t even go soggy!  With the – err – larger slices, we folded them in half so it was a lovely apple-almond sandwich.

Neil and I both remarked that this is the type of thing you might get in a French pĂątisserie (though you would get a better looking one for sure!) but it just screamed “France”.  Mum – I KNOW you have the book. You HAVE to make this for Dad 😉

French Fridays with Dorie participants do not publish the recipes on our blogs (though this week you can find the recipe online here), rather, we prefer if you purchase Around My French Table for yourselves (trust me, you definitely want this book!) which you can do here on Amazon or Amazon Canada. Or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Go on, treat yourself – join us! Honestly, the recipes that I didn’t like I can count on one hand. Really!


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44 thoughts on “French Fridays with Dorie: Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart”

  1. I love how the red pops up! Apples and butter are always a winner for me – I went the easy way out and chose the bonne idĂ©e, but will definitely try the real version once ‘real’ fall apples make their way to Puerto Rico. Happy Friday!

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  2. Happy belated Thanksgiving. I am sure it was wildly delicious at your home. I have to say I am a fan of desserts that aren’t perfect. They are more peasant or rustic like, which I prefer to look at, instead of the “Oh I am a gorgeous puffy tart, look at me”. I think your tart is beautiful and I am sure it was delicious!

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  3. Happy Thanksgiving! I bet this would be a great turkey day dessert. Last year I made Dorie’s French Apple Cake for thanksgiving and it was a big hit. And I agree that this one tasted much better than it looked. We loved it!

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  4. Oooh, I love the unpeeled apples too! I hestitated to do it with mine, and now I wish I had. It always seems a shame to me to let the peel go to waste. I think it’s a beautiful tart!

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  5. I love how you left the peel on the apples for that little sliver of colour! Your tart looks gorgeous despite what you thought. 😉 I think I may try to glaze mine with lemon marmalade next time.

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  6. The apple skins make your tart even more stunning! I like that it can be heated in the microwave, though I think it was good at room tÂș. A perfect celebration dessert! Have a great weekend!

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  7. Happy Thanksgiving, a little late. I agree with you about this dessert. It doesn’t look particularly pretty or even that good to eat BUT when you bite into it, warm or room temperature, it is delicious. Mardi, I was silly to share this dessert with others because it was so good, as you suggested, for every meal as well as a perfect snack. By the way, I tried last night to find Knorr’s “What’s For Dinner Cookbook (it is in book form, isn’t it) but could not find it to order. I really like Knorr products but I guess I will have to settle for linking on to their website every so often. Liked your Post about them.

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  8. Happy belated Thanksgiving, Mardi! What a perfect dessert to serve for Thanksgiving. I think your tart is so beautiful especially with the little bits of marmalade. The red skins on the slices just pop and along with the bits of marmalade give this tart such a lovely color.

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  9. Love your shout out to your Mom to make this for your Dad! If she’s like me and sees your photos here in this post she is going to be craving a slice for sure.

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  10. I’ve been fondly reminiscing about this tart all week. It was delicious! A wonderful Thanksgiving dinner dessert with a French flair. And very pretty too with the pink edges on the apple slices. I heartily concur that this was a yummy success.

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  11. This looks gorgeous, Mardi! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And, I’m thrilled to know this stays crispy when reheated in the microwave. I’ve been doing it in the oven and it’s so time consuming… (I have still have a few slices left!)

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  12. The Apple Tart looks yummy. Geoff is “off ” desserts at the moment. But I could always make a smaller one, ( not too much smaller) for me! I’ve made a similar one with butter puff pastry. That was puffy and crisp. I have never used filo pastry before, I think it’s time to start

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