Apple Pie Tart

This tart gives you the flavor of apple pie and the aroma of cinnamon wafting around your boat with slightly less effort. It's a pretty impressive dessert for guests, and it also makes an excellent breakfast treat with coffee.  I used the apples that I bought at the Oriental Farmer's Market here in Oriental, NC, a mixture of three different kinds, all tart. You can peel the apples if you want, but I left the peel on for a bit more flavor.

For crust:

1-1/3 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup butter flavor shortening or unsalted butter
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup ice water

Sift flour, measure, and sift again into large bowl along with salt. Add shortening or butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or using 2 knives until the mixture is coarse. Add ice water and stir quickly with a fork until the mixture comes together into a ball and cleans the side of the bowl.  Roll out to a circle about 13" round. Roll loosely around rolling pin and transfer to cookie sheet lined with foil and then lined with parchment.  Set aside.





For filling:

2 large apples, any tart variety
2 Tbl lemon juice, fresh if available
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbl butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Wash apples and quarter. Cut seeds out and slice cross-ways very thinly into bowl. Add lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss together until well mixed.

Place apple mixture on center of crust, leaving about 2 to 3 inches around filling. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Melt butter and pour over the filling. Fold crust partially over filling, leaving a circle  exposed in the middle about 3 inches.

Bake at 375° for 35-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender when poked with a sharp knife. Let cool for 10 minutes.

For frosting:

While the tart is cooling, mix 1 cup powdered sugar with just enough milk to make it drizzle from a fork, adding a teaspoon at a time. The mixture should be thick but still able to run from the fork smoothly.
Drizzle the icing across the tart in decorative lines and serve either warm, or let cool completely. If serving as a dessert you can add a scoop of ice cream.