Apple Tart

This apple tart recipe is made with a delicious gingersnap crust and a gorgeous apple rose in the middle. It is baked to perfection and brushed with a simple honey butter reduction. It is perfect for a holiday gathering. 

Have no fear, this apple tart may look fancy, but it is really easy to make. It just takes a little time. If you are looking for more easy holiday desserts these soft gingerbread cookies or these chocolate chai cheesecake bars. 

Simple Apple Tart Recipe

Yes, we mentioned above that this apple tart is made with a gingersnap crust rather than a traditional pie crust made of pastry dough (like other apple tarts). We love the simplicity of the gingersnap crust and the big flavor and extra bit it gives this delicious tart. 

We recognize that this tart recipe looks a bit complicated, but you will surprise yourself when you make a gorgeous tart and serve it to your family. 

Other reasons to make this easy apple tart. 

• Its not your average apple pie. 
• This tart is made up of thin apple slices and a ginger crust to die for.
• The ingredients for this apple tart are ingredients that you probably have in your pantry right now. 
• It is a great recipe to take to a party to impress your friends and family. 

Ingredients You Need 

• Honey crisp apples- we combined a sweet apple like an apple crisp with a tart apple. 
• Granny smith apples– the tart apple we use in this recipe are the classic granny smith. 
• Ginger snaps– buy a box of your favorite gingersnaps and they will be a part of the dry rub that you toss with the apples and the main ingredient in the ginger snap crust. 
• Brown sugar- both the apple pie filling and the crust have brown sugar. 
• Spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg)- the spices that you coat your apples with are classic warming spices that are the perfect combination of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. You can also use one teaspoon of our pumpkin pie spice if you have it on hand instead). 
• Salt- there is both table salt and kosher salt in this recipe. It draws out the moisture from the apple slices and brings out all of the flavor in the apple tart itself. 
• Cold unsalted butter- be sure the butter for the crust is cold and then you will also need butter for the orange juice reduction.
• Orange juice- you only use a little bit of orange juice to create a sweet butter reduction.
• Water- this thins out your reduction rather than using more orange juice. It’s sweet enough as it is. 
• Apple juices (be sure you save these!)- you get all the flavors from the apples, spices, and other tasty ingredients from the apples. 
• Honey- the honey both gives this apple crisp both a shiny glaze and a bit of natural sweetness.

Tools You Need

Kitchen mandolin– the most important tool for this recipe (in my our opinion) is a mandolin. It is the easiest way to get exactly the same thickness for every single apple slice. 

9-inch tart pan– we have this tart pan and prefer the scalloped edges. If you have a 9 inch pan with no scallops, thats ok.

Be aware that some tarts pans have a removable bottom, so be sure to grab the sides of the plate rather than placing your hand on the bottom. You may end up with a mess. 

Small saucepan– the small sauce pan is used to make the reduction that will be brushed on to the top of the tart. 

Pastry brush- whether you use a pastry brush or a new small paint brush, it is so helpful to have a brush rather than pouring the sauce over the tart. You will end up with puddles of reduction. 

Food processor– you will have to process the ginger snaps and butter together to create the base of your tart. Be sure you have a big enough food processor. 

How to Make a Simple Apple Tart

1. Slice the apples. The first thing you have to do for this apple tart is slice your apples. The tricky part is that you want all of your apple slices to be basically the same thickness. Of course you can try to do it with a sharp knife, but using a mandolin will make your life a heck of a lot easier. You want to slice the apple slices thin enough that they will bend but thick enough that they won’t dissolve while sitting or baking. 
2. Draw moisture out of the apples. Once the apple slices are ready, place them in a bowl and sprinkle the apples with all the spices (don’t forget the salt) and ground ginger snaps. We use ground ginger snaps instead of all purpose flour here. 
3. Make your crust. Place the ginger snaps into a high powered food processor and process until the ginger snaps begin to look like bread crumps. Add the cold butter to the food processor in cold chunks and pulse until a crumble forms.  
4. Bake the crust. Add the ginger snap mixture to a greased tart pan and then use your hands to press the crumble into the pan. Use your hands to make sure the ginger snap crumble lines the sides of the pan. We use a measuring cup to add pressure to both the bottom of the crust as well as the sides. Carefully place the tart in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. 
5. Simmer a reduction. Carefully pour your apples into a strainer and catch the apple drippings. Place the apple drippings in a saucepan and add the other ingredients for the reduction to the saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. 
6. Build your gorgeous apple rose. Now it’s time to build. Your apple filling for this tart is going to be in the shape of a beautiful rose to do this takes a little time, but it’s quite relaxing. Create the apple tart rose by lining the gingersnap crust with the spiced apple slices. Place the apples skin side up around the edge of the tart so they overlap lap each other until one row of apples is complete. Continue to layer the apples working towards the center of the tart. 
7. Bake the tart. Brush the top of the tart with the reduction using a pastry brush. You will use some of the reduction now and some later. Bake the tart for 30 minutes at 350ºF. 
8. Brush the top of the tart. Brush the tart one more time and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 
9. Let it set. Remove the tart from the oven and let it cool for at least 1-2 hours. Enjoy. 

FAQ

Storage

Store this apple tart covered and in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It tends to get a little soggy after that.