The châteaux where history has been erased

These show stopper desserts bring fresh twists to traditional treats French apple and honey rose tart

An eye-catching flan that’s easier to make than it looks and makes a really special Rosh Hashanah dessert.

Prep: 50 minutes Cooking 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS For the dough

300g plain flour +/- 50g

180g butter (or margarine), softened 100g caster sugar 1 medium egg

For the compote and apple topping

12 medium dessert apples (8 for compote/4 for apple roses)

2tbsp honey

1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

Heat your oven to 175°C (fan).

To make the pastry: Mix the flour, butter, sugar and egg into a soft dough and put it on a sheet of floured baking paper. Sprinkle more flour on top and roll into a circle about ½cm thick and 25 to 30cm in diameter.

Pick up the pastry by rolling it (and the paper) over your rolling pin, and lay it carefully over a 22-25cm round tart dish or tin — paper down. Cut the excess of baking paper and dough with scissors.

Blind bake the base until pale beige for 10 minutes. Set aside.

For the compote: peel and core 8 apples and cut into small pieces. Cook in a pan for 20-30 minutes at medium heat with a bit of water until the apples have softened.

Once cooked, cool down and add the honey and vanilla essence. Liquidise to break them down — I like to leave a bit of chunky texture.

For the topping: quarter the remaining 4 (unpeeled) apples and cut into thin slices. The thinner they are, the easier to form the roses. Poach them gently in a large frying pan with about 50-80ml of water for approximately 10 minutes until they soften. Once soft, drain off all the water and dry completely on a plate lined with kitchen paper.

Spread a 1cm layer of compote over the cooked pastry. You may not need it all.

When you are ready to bake the tart, preheat your oven to 180°C, then you can create the apple roses. Do this by taking one slice of apple and rolling it into a sausage shape, then rolling another slice around it; then another one until you have formed a rose. Four slices should make a medium rose; six, a bigger one. Arrange the roses on the apple compote until completely covered .

Bake for 35-40 minutes approximately until all the apples roses are golden brown.