Apple Crumble Tart -

Apple Crumble Tart

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8

8 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (8 1/2 ounces = ~ a little less than 2 cups)
60 grams granulated sugar (60 grams = ~ 4 + 3/4 tablespoons)
60 grams light brown sugar (60 grams = ~ 4 + 3/4 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
160 grams unsalted butter cold and diced large chunks, (160 grams =~1 stick of butter +2 1/2 tablespoons of butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all of the crust ingredients in a large bowl, except the butter. Pour in your melted butter. Begin to mix with your hands until the mixture clumps together like wet sand in your hands. Pour the mixture into an 8" tart pan greased with cooking spray. Use your hands to begin to spread the mixture onto the bottom and sides of the pan.
Use your hands and the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten the bottom of the crust and to get the mixture up the sides as evenly as possible. It won't look perfect, but just do the best you can to get it as even as possible. Bake the crust for 10 minutes at 350°F for 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and you begin to smell the aroma from the oven. Set it aside to cool.

Add most ingredients except the cornstarch, vanilla extract and apple juice in a pot. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the apples are tender. (By tender, I mean they should no longer be firm to the bite but also not mushy.) When your apples are almost at the point of being finished, you want to combine cornstarch with apple juice in a small separate bowl. This creates a slurry which will help thicken our apple mixture. Add the slurry to the pot. Continue to cook the apple mixture for a few minutes after the slurry is added until the mixture thickens a bit. Pour out the apple mixture into a medium-sized bowl, stir in the vanilla extract and set it aside to cool.

Combine the streusel topping ingredients all together in a medium-sized bowl. Begin to work it with your hands a bit by mixing it all together before pouring the mixture onto a parchment-lined sheet tray. Use your hands to clump up together the flour and butter into big clumps. We want bigger clumps so it creates a streusel topping. Smaller clumps of the mixture will end up overbaking. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown and the flour is no longer raw.
I believe my oven took about 30-35 minutes but every oven is different. That's why it's important to check throughout. You can take it out of the oven at the 20-minute mark if you're unsure and try a piece. If it needs longer, just put it back in the oven and continue baking in five-minute increments. The edges or small amounts on the outside may be a bit burned or overbaked, but that's fine. We'll pick through and use the good ones. Set the topping to the side to cool and move on to making your filling.

After giving a bit of time for your apple mixture, crust, and streusel topping to cool, begin to make the filling. In a cold bowl, use a cold whisk to begin whisking cold cream side to side in a rapid motion. After about 30 seconds, add the powdered sugar, milk powder, vanilla bean, and vanilla extract. After another 30 seconds to a minute, once you start to see the mixture start to thicken slightly, add in the mascarpone and begin to whisk that in. Whip this mixture until you achieve a medium peak. This means the cream will hold its shape and have some body to it, but still be soft and light. It should stick to a spoon if you scoop a bit out onto a spoon.

Pour the filling immediately after making it into the cooled crust. Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread as evenly the best you can. Top it with most, if not all of the cooled apple mixture. Spread as evenly as possible making sure you don't spread to the edges. We want a bit of a gap between the edges and the apple mixture so some cream filling should be peaking through there.
Crumble up your streusel topping on the sheet tray into medium-sized pieces. Add the softer pieces on top of your apple mixture, again avoiding the edges. Decorate this as you please from here. I just dust on a bit of powdered sugar to finish it off. Refrigerate for at least four hours or up to overnight before serving.

It's recommended to serve within the first couple of days, but it will last refrigerated and covered for up to four days.

Keyword apple crumble tart