Be prepared to make pastry cream and caramel. It’s tart time

There are two kinds of pastry lovers.

The first orders a pastry and savours it in a moment of bliss, oblivious to the world.

The second orders a few pastries and enjoys bites of each, acutely attuned to the flavours and textures, as their gears turn and they “figure it out.”

Very often, a professional dessert contains easy-to-prepare ingredients using professional tools and equipment. That gives us unique shapes, towering heights, and finished products that are difficult to replicate in the home kitchen. The small tart pans used to create the base of this dessert can be hard to find and expensive to buy, so we’ve revised this recipe to be prepared as one large tart in a basic 10-inch tart pan.

Of course, that’s not to say that you can’t make this Caramel Apple Tart recipe using individual tart pans, if you’d like. If you find the right moulds, you may need more tart dough to make eight or 10 portions, since they’re so deep. So in that case, you’ll probably want to double your tart dough and pastry cream recipes, just to make sure you have enough.

Pastry cream is one of the most common professional pastry components, so you’ll be happy to master the technique.

Chef Melissa Walnock says, “Pastry cream is simple, but easy to overcook. Once you have combined your liaison of eggs, sugar, and cornstarch with your hot dairy, you need to cook it on low while whisking constantly to make sure your eggs don’t overcook.”

If you don’t nail this the first time, you’re not alone. Just pass the mixture through a strainer or cheese cloth to remove those lumps.

You’ll be making caramel twice in this recipe, and by the end, you may feel like an old pro. We added a little water to the method here, which is Caramel 101. It takes a little longer than starting with dry sugar, but it helps keep the sugar from burning. The amount doesn’t matter much — just add enough so it’s like wet sand.

You add too much, no big deal. It just takes a bit longer to cook, since the objective is to evaporate all of the water.

You can share that little behindthe-scenes nugget with your friends when they ask you where you bought this very professional tart.

Caramel Apple Tart MAKES 10 SERVINGS

Vanilla Tart Dough (see recipe) Caramel Pastry Cream (see recipe) 4 prepared oatmeal cookies, crumbled 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar, or as needed Caramelized Apples (see recipe)

Start to finish: 2 hours 45 minutes; active time: 45 minutes

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Prepare vanilla tart dough and, once well-chilled, remove from the refrigerator to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about ¼-inch thick, then transfer it to a 10-inch tart pan. Gently press the dough into the pan (the dough is fragile, but any cracks or tears can be pressed back together or patched with excess dough), and trim the edges. Use a fork to prick the dough all over, then refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to overnight.

Line the chilled crust with lightly oiled parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Partially blind bake the crust until it is a matte, pale golden colour, 15 to 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 F. Remove the weights and parchment and bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes more. Remove the crust from the oven and place it on a rack until completely cooled.

Transfer the cooled pastry cream to a bowl and beat it with a wooden spoon until it is creamy, about one minute. Fill the cooled pan with the pastry cream and spread it using an offset spatula.

In a small bowl, toss the oatmeal cookie pieces in the confectioners’ sugar until lightly coated. Set aside.

Arrange the apple pieces, allowing excess syrup to drip off as you go, onto the top of the tart until the cream is completely covered. Sprinkle with oatmeal cookie pieces and serve at once.

Vanilla Tart Dough MAKES 1 DISC, ENOUGH FOR ONE 10-INCH TART

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon cornstarch ½ tsp kosher salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, cream together the butter and sugar until well combined, four to five minutes. Raise the mixer speed to medium and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the mixture is well combined and light in colour, about five minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add the egg mixture to the butter mixture and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the mixture is smooth and well blended, three to four minutes.

Turn off the mixer and add the flour, cornstarch and salt all at once. Pulse the mixer until the dry ingredients are moistened and then mix on low speed for one minute, or until just combined. Do not overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.

Shape the dough into a five- to six-inch disc and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour, or preferably overnight, until firm.