Apple Tart

For the pastry	For the Pastry Cream	For the filling	To finish
8 oz plain flour 5 oz butter 1 oz - 4 oz sugar (We used 1 oz) a pinch of salt 1 egg milk (if needed)	½ pint milk ½ vanilla pod 2 oz sugar 1 oz plain flour 1 egg pinch of custard powder (optional)	2½ lb Bramley apples 2 oz sugar	1 Tbsp apricot jam 2 tsp water

(We used 1.5 x the above for it. The apples were wild overestimations - we had five or so left that wouldn't fit in the dish. And we used 2 eggs, so didn't add any extra milk. Also, didn't use custard powder. The finished pastry cream was delicious, but very pale. Perhaps that is what the custard powder is for. And we didn't glaze.)

Prepare the oven: put the oven on to heat at 190°C and put a heavy baking sheet in it to warm.
Make the pastry: rub the fat into the flour, add the sugar and salt, and then mix in the egg and a little milk (if required) to make a smooth pastry. You can do this easily in a food processor.
Make the Pastry cream: Heat the milk and vanilla pod to just below boiling point. In a bowl, mix the egg, flour, custard powder and sugar together. Pour half the hot liquid into the egg mixture whisking it as you do so. Return this to the pan and gently heat it back up stirring/whisking as you do so to avoid it sticking to the pan as it thickens. When it boils remove it from the heat and pour it into a clean bowl. Whisk to remove any lumps (sieve if necessary) and cover the surface of the cream with a butter paper or cling-film. Place on a rack to cool. It needs air circulation around and under it otherwise it will sour.
Line a pastry case: grease an 8 inch loose bottomed flan tin and line it with pastry. (There will be quite a bit left over for making tarts etc). Prick the bottom all over with a fork.
Prepare the apples: peel and core the apples, halve or quarter and cut into thin slices - if you can't do this quickly, put the sliced pieces into water to which you've added a squeeze of lemon juice.
Assemble the flan: spread about ¾ of the pastry cream into the flan case, mounding it in the middle. Drain and dry the apples and arrange them in overlapping circles on the pastry cream working from the outside, sprinkling the sugar between the layers. Reduce the size of each layer to make a 'pyramid' working towards the middle.
Cook: Put on to the baking sheet in the pre-heated oven and cook for 30 - 40 minutes or until the pastry is cooked and a skewer will go through the apple easily. Remove and place on a baking rack to cool.
Glaze: heat the jam and water and mix together. Brush over the partially cooled tart to glaze and allow to cool fully.


From
http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/producers_directory/?e=589