December. The last month of the year is kind of a closure of another chapter in the book of our life. At the same time, we prepare to start the next one. During this month we make promises to ourselves or to other people, reassess our goals and set new ones. New beginnings are something really special because they often bring hopefulness with them.
Besides hope, December means also Christmas lights, snowy days, warm homes, family, friends, giving and receiving, kindness, gratitude, happiness. December is the magic that we need in our lives.
As winter approaches I always look forward to the beginning of this month. On the first day, I would usually decorate our Christmas tree and would make two cups of hot chocolate (one for me and one for the Christmas spirit, so it can feel itself at home 😉 This year we even got lucky and had lots of snow for the 1st of December!
In this beautiful snowy weather, we enjoy spending more time at home, feeling cozy and warm. I find it is the perfect time to bake something sweet like a winter-flavored pastry. This delicious apple tart is easy to make and can be shared with friends and family because they would definitely adore it. In addition, you can have a cup of tea together to warm your souls. And for those of you who are more like Joey than Monica, and don’t like to share food – make this tart for yourself and enjoy a big slice on the couch, watching your favorite Christmas movies 🙂
Christmas apple tart with nuts
Ingredients
- 200 g Flour
- 70 g finely ground Nuts (wallnuts, haselnuts or almonds)
- 50 g Powdered sugar
- 1 Pinch of salt
- 150 g Cold butter
- 1 Egg yolk (you can add the egg white to the filling)
- 500 g Apples
- 200 g Curd or cream cheese
- 1/2 Lemon (its juice and grated lemon zest)
- 1 Egg
- 30 g Powdered sugar
- 2 TL Cinnamon
- 1/2 finely grated Tonka bean
- 150 g roughly chopped Nuts e.g. wallnuts
- 50 g Powdered sugar
For the shortcrust:
For the filling:
For the caramelized nuts:
Directions
- Finely grind the nuts and mix them with the flour, powdered sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Add the cold butter in small pieces and using cold hands rub it together with the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg yolk and knead the dough until smooth. It is important for the dough to stay cold during this process, so try to be a as quick as possible.
- Form it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- During this time, peel the apples and cut them into thin slices (about 2-3 mm).
- Mix all the ingredients for the filling and once the mixture is smooth, add the apples. Stir well, so that the cream covers all apple pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, top and bottom heat.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and form it into a circle (about 1 cm thick).
- Place it in a form and raise the edges of the tart to 3-4 cm.
- Spread the apple mixture on top.
- Bake the apple tart for 40 minutes on the lowest oven rack.
- Meanwhile, place the chopped nuts with the powdered sugar in a heated pan and let them caramelize for a couple of minutes, stirring regularly.
- After baking, sprinkle the tart with the caramelized nuts.
- Wait for it to cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Note: If you don’t have tonka beans, you can use a few drops of vanilla extract as a substitute. Serving suggestion: If you want to make this dessert even richer, serve it with a scoop whipped cream or vanilla ice cream 😉
