Oma’s Appeltaart (serves 6)
Prep time: 40 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins
Pastry
300g self raising flour, sifted
150g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
pinch salt
180g margarine, chilled
1 egg, beaten
Plain flour for rolling
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, vanilla and salt. Cut margarine into small cubes and add to flour mix. Using dough hook attachment, mix together on low speed. Add beaten egg while mixing. Once dough is formed, remove from bowl and knead by hand to form a ball. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Take 1/3 of the pastry, wrap and return to fridge. Using plenty of flour, roll out the remaining pastry to 1.5 cm thickness on a clean work surface. Lay the pastry over your floured rolling pin, then gently lay it in a greased 20cm tart tin. Press gently into the tin and use any leftovers to patch rips or holes. Return to the fridge while you prepare the filling.
Filling
1 cup raisins
3 tbsp brandy
4 tbsp warm water
3 apples
juice of ½ lemon
3 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp icing sugar
Soak raisins in brandy and warm water for 20 minutes. Peel apples, then cut into thick slices around the core. Place in a large bowl with lemon juice, brown sugar and cinnamon. Drain raisins, add to apples and toss to coat. Retrieve tart base from fridge and arrange apple mix inside. Roll out reserved pastry to at least same diameter as the tart and cut into 2-3 cm strips. Using a long palette knife, lift strips off work surface and lay over apple filling in a lattice pattern. Brush the pastry lattice with water and dust with icing sugar. Bake for 40 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm with coffee cream.
Coffee cream
½ cup cream
½ tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp strong espresso
Whip cream with sugar. Fold in espresso until combined.