If you like custard, you’ll love this unusual apple custard tart. But don’t just take my word for it. Bake my French Apple Custard Tart in your kitchen, and I promise you will fall in love with this wonderful dessert.
I love apple desserts so much that I have another post of 11 Apple Tarts. Today, I just made one of the recipes, and I must say that it is now one of the best apple tarts I have ever had.
French Apple Custard Tart
A couple of summers ago, our family took an amazing trip to France, and we dined our way through Paris and Provenance.
On our second day in Paris, we randomly chose a little cafe that served up organic dishes that were pre-made. I must say that I was a little worried about the flavor of the food, but it turned out to be quite delicious!
We splurged and bought an apple custard tart that was a delightful blend of custard, apples, and crispy, flaky croissant crust. And so, for the rest of our trip, we kept sampling apple tarts, and we were greatly disappointed.
Who knew that this little lunch shop would have the best dessert we had in all of France!
So, of course, once I was home, I was obsessed, and I recreated the French apple custard tart we had in France.
You wouldn’t be surprised that I’m a tiny bit obsessed with various things for those who know me. You see, I have this personality trait that my family finds either annoying or entertaining.
Luckily for my blog readers, I post things that I have a lot of passion for. And so, I’m crazy about apple desserts since I have a scrumptious Mini Apple Tart Custard Recipe.
This new recipe is similar to my French apple custard tarts, but it is made in a cast-iron pan, and the crust is more of a pie crust. You’ll definitely want to make this next.
So, back to my French apple custard tart story. A couple of summers ago, we took a family trip to Montana, and I had a lot of time on my hands… so, I tried a few attempts at creating this apple tart. I finally came up with a version that is really close to the original Paris tart!
My dessert has a flaky croissant crust and a layer of egg custard followed by cooked apple slices and then finally topped with a rich glaze of apricot jelly and Calvados brandy. I hope you enjoy baking and eating it as much as my family does. This dessert doesn’t last too long in our house!
It is best served warm and fresh. But, if eaten the next day, heat in the oven to get the crust to its original flaky texture.
1. How Long Do You Cook an Apple Tart For?
Since this recipe requires you pre-cook the sliced apples, it only cooks for a total of 55 minutes. This includes baking the puff pastry in advance.
2. What’s the Difference Between Tart and Pie?
I guess there is a serious debate on this subject. But what I gather a pie is usually made with a bottom, sides, and top crust. On the other hand, a tart has shallow sides, and mostly the top isn’t covered. You can read more about it on the Telegraph website.
3. What Temperature Do You Cook a Tart?
My recipe calls for the oven temperature to be 350 degrees.
How to Make a This Delicious Dessert
(A Brief Description)
Step 1 – Thaw Two Puff Pastry Sheets
Step 2 – Cut Puff Pastry Strips
Step 3 – Build Edges of the Tart
Step 4 – Bake Puffed Pastry with Dried Beans (Blind Baking)
Step 5 – Prepare Apples and Cook Over Stovetop
Step 6 – Make Egg Custard
Step 7 – Assemble Apple Tart
French Apple Custard Tart
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 package frozen puff pastry I use Pepperidge Farms - this recipe calls for 2 sheets
Custard Filling
- 1 ¼ cups cream or whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste Can use vanilla extract
- 4 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup sugar
Apple Filling
- 2 Granny Smith peeled and sliced
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon optional
- ½ tsp nutmeg
Apricot Glaze
- ½ cup apricot jelly or sieved apricot jam
- 2 tbsp Rum can use Calvados liquer
Instructions
Puff Pastry
- Remove two puff pastries from the freezer. Don't unfold the pastry at this time.
- Allow the pastries to thaw for about 30 minutes.
- Once thawed, unfold the pastry if pliable.
- Preheat oven to 400°
- You will make two puff pastries forms in the shape of rectangles.
- For the crust, you'll want to check out the photos or videos on how to make the crust.
- Cut six 1-inch strips along the long side of the puff pastry.
- Place puff pastry on parchment paper and a baking sheet.
- Place each strip on the edges of the leftover rectangular pastry dough. Brush a thin layer of water in between strips so that they stick together. Add another strip so that your sides are two strips deep. Trim pastry excess pastry dough.
- Smooth and seal dough seams with a wet finger.
- Cut a sheet of parchment that is big enough to cover the rectangular-shaped puff pastry. Place parchment over the center of the pastry. Fill with baking beads or dried beans like pinto beans.
- Repeat these steps to make another pastry.
- Bake in the oven (until lightly golden) for 30 minutes.
- Take dough out of the oven and remove the dried beans.
- The middle of the dough where the beans are covered is probably uncooked at this point. So now we will bake it again.
- Place the dough back in the oven and bake for another 3 minutes.
- Once the middle is cooked, place on a cooling rack.
Apple Filling
- Peel apples and core them.
- Slice apples.
- Melt butter in the saucepan and then add sugar, cornstarch, and apples. If you like cinnamon and nutmeg, you can add them at this time.
- Cook apples over low to medium heat.
- Once apples are tender, remove them from the stove.
Custard Filling
- In a small saucepan, mix vanilla bean paste with milk. Heat on stove until it boils.
- In another saucepan, beat 3 egg yolks and sugar.
- Next, slowly add the hot cream mixture into the egg and whisk thoroughly after each addition. Since the eggs are raw, adding hot milk will cook the eggs. So, add the hot mixture very slowly at first, so you don't get pieces of cooked egg. If you get cooked eggs, no worries. You can strain the custard with a sieve.
- Now stir the egg and milk mixture over low heat until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes; do not boil. Remove from heat.
- Take off the stove and set it aside.
Assembling Tart
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Add half the custard to one of the puff pastries. Next, top custard with cooked apple slices. You can line up the apples if you like.
- Repeat with the second puff pastry.
- Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Apricot Glaze
- In a small bowl, add strained apricot jam with rum. Mix well.
- Brush glaze on top of tart and apples when the pastry comes out of the oven.
- Serve with ice cream or whip cream.
Nutrition
This dessert will be a hit! So your’s will look like this one. You’ll either make two skinny ones (like the above photo) or one larger one.
If you end up making this recipe, please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Make sure to check out my recipe page for more delicious desserts.
Cheers,
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PJ
Thank you for sharing and posting such beautiful step by step pictures. Going to try this tomorrow ! ♡♡♡♡
Janine Waite
Hi PJ,
Ah, thanks! Yeah, when I was explaining how to form the crust to my husband, he was like, "what?" So, I knew I had to post photos. I'm so glad you are going to try making it. It is exactly like the one we had in Paris, and I'm so happy that I recreated it. It is really best warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream! My husband just loves this dessert and wouldn't share it with anyone else! I hope you like it… :o)
Cheers,
Janine
Marie
Looks absolutely delicious. I must try it as I have puff pastry that I’ve been meaning to use. Thanks for sharing!
happyhappynester
Oh, Marie, my recipe is just like the one that we ate in Paris. I’m so happy I figured out how to make it. I hope you have a chance to try it. Have a lovely Autumn and thanks for your visit!
Maria
Perfect, thanks for posting 🙂 Now I do have a question about the crust, when you write “Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes,” what do you mean by ‘is set’, what to look for?
happyhappynester
Hi Maria,
Yes, basically you are baking the crust. If you look at the seventh photo down after the recipe there is a picture of how your crust should look after baking it for 20 minutes. I pre-bake the crust so that it won’t be soggy once you add the custard and apples. I hope this makes sense. Don’t forget to tap the crust down in the middle since it will puff up in the oven. I probably will edit this old post. Thanks for your comment and visit. I hope you like this recipe.
Maria
Great 🙂
happyhappynester
You are so welcome, Maria!
Karen M.
This dessert is soooo going to be my Christmas dessert. I can’t wait to bake it!! Thanks so much for sharing.
Andrea Lesovsky
What could I use instead of the brandy to make the glaze? I need something that is not alcohol. I want to make this for my nieces.
happyhappynester
Hi Andrea,
I’m so glad you are going to try this recipe. I would just use the jam and it should be fine without the alcohol. I would warm up the jam and then use it as a glaze. I hope this helps!
yuni
oh wow, that looks delicious!! i’m hungry all of a sudden. I’m pinning this for later!
Doreen
Oh my gosh, this looks amazing! I will be making this! Thanks for sharing, Janine!
[email protected]
This looks so amazing!
lynn spencer
Janine, first off…you are speaking my love language with a dessert that has 1) apples 2) custard and 3) pastry crust. Thanks for the inspiration.
Second…I had to laugh…we took our family to France several years back and while in Normandy had them try Calvados…to this day they have never forgiven us! They will die when I tell them what in the glaze!
Thanks for the recipe!
Carolann
Super yummy! I pinned this too. Can’t wait to try it!
Kim
Well, this looks just delicious. I could eat dessert for dinner every night…Now my stomach is rumbling. 😉
[email protected]
This looks amazing! Pinning to try for sure
Jamie Lott
This looks amazing! I’d love to have one in France.
happyhappynester
I know, let’s fly to France!!!
Coco in the Kitchen
Oh, what deliciousness is this and how the hell did I miss this post?!
I love this tart and your cute anecdotes, J. xo
Rlearvb
You may want to add to strain the custard through a sieve before pouring it into the crust. Also, I had a lot of custard left over. It turned out great!!!
happyhappynester
Yes, when adding the egg to the hot ingredients it can be tricky. I will add to the recipe that when adding the egg you must whisk the warm custard quickly and add the egg very slowly, so it doesn’t cook. Thanks for your input about the recipe. I’m so glad you liked it!
Margot
You didn’t specify the temperature of the oven for the puff pastry prebake.
Aga
Hi, I am looking for the recipe for this, apple custard tart, but all I see is a recipe for almond custard ice cream?
I would love to try the custard apple tarts, they look delicious 🙂
Regards
Aga
happyhappynester
Hi Aga,
So I’m having technical difficulties over here! Hopefully, I can get it up soon. Sorry, for the inconvenience.
Carrie
I am having the same issue, but would love to see the recipe as it looks amazing!
Thanks,
Carrie
happyhappynester
I accidentally erased the recipe. It is back to the kitchen to recreate it. I’m so sorry I’m such a putz!
Carrie
I am having the same problem, but would really like to make the apple tart!
Thanks,
Carrie
happyhappynester
I erased the recipe by accident. I need to make it again one of these days. I do have a mini apple tart in a cast iron pan that is scrumptious!