Apple Tartlets

This is a terrific recipe to have up your sleeve. These tartlets are ideal to serve after a simple lunch or even a formal dinner. I always make the cream pastry a day or two in advance. The tartlets themselves don’t take long to prepare and bake in just twenty minutes.

Makes 24

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

Place the cold pastry on a generously floured work surface. Sprinkle flour over the top and roll to a thickness of 3 mm/⅛ inch, using a rolling pin. Cut the pastry into disks using a 7.5 cm/3 inch round cutter. Transfer the disks of pastry to a shallow, flat-based bun tray, lining each well with a disc. Place the lined tray in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes. Shake excess flour from the pastry scraps, gather them together, wrap in parchment paper and place in the fridge. The scraps can be re-rolled again when they are properly chilled and used to make another batch of tartlets.

Peel, quarter and core the apples. Then slice each apple quarter into half-moon slices approx. 5mm (1/8 inch) thick. Arrange 4 or 5 slices of apple in a fan over each circle of pastry. Sprinkle a scant teaspoon of the caster sugar over the fruit in each tartlet and bake straight away for about 20 minutes, until the sugar begins to caramelize and the pastry is a deep golden colour. While the tartlets are baking, line a heatproof tray with parchment paper and sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the paper. Remove the tartlets from the oven and transfer them from the baking tray to the sugared parchment paper while still hot. Arrange on a pretty plate and serve warm with softly whipped cream.