Learn how to make a puff pastry apple tart with this easy recipe and step-by-step photos. You can use frozen pre-rolled puff pastry sheets from your local bakery or grocery store. This is a slab tart that is cut into squares to serve.
Puff pastry apple tarts are my favourite. They are so easy to make, especially if you can get sheets of frozen puff pastry that are already conveniently rolled out.
A French apple tart made with puff pastry is also called "tarte fine aux pommes" because it is a slab tart, fairly thin, made with thin slices of apple. If you like this type of dessert, you can also make this easy apple galette with pie crust or the classic apple tarte tatin!
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Ingredients
This easy apple tart has four basic components:
- the base: a sheet of puff pastry
- the filling: apple compote, like a chunky apple sauce made from a dry caramel and chopped apples
- the topping: thinly sliced apples
- the glaze: maple syrup (adds sweetness and flavour without shine) or melted apple jelly (the classic glaze, adds shine and sweetness and more apple flavour)
To make this easy apple dessert, you will need:
- lots of apples (5 to 7 medium–large apples)—choose apples that are good for baking, like Cortland, Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, or any apple that tastes good and doesn't break down when heated
- sugar—use granulated sugar that you can caramelize on the stove into a golden amber syrup that is full of flavour
- butter—use unsalted butter, though salted could work as we aren't using much in this recipe
- puff pastry—homemade or store-bought, though for something like this, I'd opt for the convenience of store-bought. Just make sure it's an all-butter puff pastry.
- maple syrup or melted apple jelly—the glaze brushed on the apples after baking the tart
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Of course, you can use homemade puff pastry for this recipe, but that can be quite time-consuming. And for something like this, I prefer the convenience of a roll of frozen puff pastry from the local baker. They sell it in rolled up sheets that are so convenient. Just make sure that it's an all-butter pastry so that it's more flavourful.
Substitutions and Variations
If you don't want to use apples, you can try using pears. The results will be similar. Depending on the variety, you may need more pears, which tend to be smaller than apples.
- Apples—try pears instead
- Puff pastry—use homemade all-butter pie crust instead (like I did for the apple tarte tatin)
- Vanilla—add the seeds of half a vanilla bean or stir in some vanilla bean paste into the apple compote
- Cinnamon—add a little ground cinnamon
- Maple—replace the sugar with maple syrup and you will add a ton of flavour and then you can skip the caramel-making step (check out this maple apple pie to see how well the combination of maple and apple is!)
- Glaze—I used maple syrup but you can use apple jelly, melted, or even warm honey. Use something sweet that you like the taste of.
How to Make a Puff Pastry Apple Tart
This is a French apple tart with puff pastry, apple compote, and sliced apples. There are three components to this dessert (not counting the glaze) and so there are three major steps involved in the preparation:
- Preparing the puff pastry crust
- Making a dry caramel to cook the apple compote filling
- Assembling the tart with sliced apples on top before baking
Working with puff pastry
Whether you roll out a block of puff pastry with a rolling pin, or unroll a sheet, you will want to trim it to fit your sheet pan. I used a pound of puff pastry dough to fit a 10x15 sheet pan lined with parchment.
Docking the sheet of puff pastry before topping it is going to help stop the dough from puffing out of control in the oven. When the puff pastry bakes, steam will form between the layers of dough as the butter melts. The holes will help release some of that gas so that the pastry bakes flat.
Of course, the weight of the toppings also helps weigh down the puff pastry, but it's not enough weight to prevent the dough from puffing in the oven. Keep an eye on the tart as it bakes and if you ever notice a section puffing upward too much, take a pairing knife to pierce the bubble before the pastry sets.
Also, don't forget that puff pastry needs to be kept cold. So always keep the dough in the fridge when you aren't working with it.
How to Make an Apple Tart with Puff Pastry
Note: By making a dry caramel, you may discover you have less issues with the sugar crystallizing than methods that start with water. While crystallization is less of an issue here, the caramel is more prone to burning and smoking, so be aware of that.
Step 1: Start by making the dry caramel. Melt the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat (image 1). The sugar will melt gradually into a fluid, clear syrup of pure melted sugar (image 2) until all the sugar has melted and begins to caramelize (image 3). Add the butter last to melt it into the caramel and "deglaze" the pan (image 4).
Step 2: Add the diced apple to the pan of caramel (image 5) and cook the apples so that they release water (image 6). Continue cooking the apples, stirring fairly often until the apples are translucent (image 7). I like to continue to cook the compote until the apples begin to break down and there is no water left (image 8). Cooking the apple filling removes the water from the filling, which boils off. This helps ensure that your puff pastry will be nice and crispy, not soggy.
Tip: Use an apple that can stand up to direct heat. I like to use Cortland apples because you can cook them without them completely breaking down. This way the compote has a little more texture to it.
Step 3: Assembly is easy and the fun part of this recipe. All you have to do is set the rolled-out pastry on a rimmed baking sheet (10x15-inch sheet pan or a half sheet pan). Dock the pastry with a fork to create steam vents and smear the puff pastry from edge-to-edge with apple compote (image 9) and layer the sliced apples (image 10). Make sure that you create an even layer of apple, either arranging them decoratively or in even rows. Make sure the compote is completely covered.
Hint: Use a mandoline to slice the apples into perfectly even slices, but be very careful and use a guard to protect your fingertips! Use the finger guard that comes with your mandoline to avoid hurting yourself
Step 4: Take the time to arrange your apple slices so that they line up nicely in neat rows or in a more haphazard, but intentional layer. The goal is to cover the entire tart, from edge-to-edge with a perfectly even layer of apples (image 11). Spend time on this step to make it look nice! Then bake the tart until the crust is golden brown and cooked through (image 12).
Tip: I like to brush maple syrup, honey, or melted apple jelly over the cooked fruit to bring a little colour and sweetness to them. Use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to do this
Top Puff Pastry Tip
Dock the pastry with a fork before topping with compote and fruit. The holes allow steam to escape and also prevent larger air bubbles from forming which will cause the crust to rise up unevenly in the oven as the tart bakes.
Storage
Apple tarts made with puff pastry are best eaten the day they are baked. Like most recipes with puff pastry, they don't store well. It won't go bad quickly, but the crispy puff pastry crust will soften after a day. The texture and flaky pastry eating experience will be different if stored overnight, for example.
I don't think this tart would freeze well either. It's best baked and eaten on the same day. You could experiment with freezing it unbaked and baking from frozen, but I haven't tested this.
Serving Suggestions
While Americans tend to serve apple pie with vanilla ice cream, French apple tarts aren't usually topped with anything. But I won't judge you if you feel like serving this easy apple dessert to your guests à la mode! This cardamom ice cream would be great or in the fall, this pumpkin ice cream!
Other Apple Desserts
If you love apple tarts, be sure to check out this delicious apple tarte tatin or this easy apple galette made with pie crust.
If you tried this recipe for the best puff pastry apple tart (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Puff Pastry Apple Tart
Ingredients
Apple compote
- 75 grams granulated sugar
- 30 grams unsalted butter
- 3 Cortland apple(s) peeled, cored, and diced
Tart assembly
- 450 grams all-butter puff pastry defrosted in the fridge overnight
- 3 Cortland apple(s) sliced thinly (you can either peel and core the apples before slicing or slice them whole for a more artistic look)
Glaze
- 30 mL pure maple syrup or melted apple jelly
Instructions
Apple compote
- Place a medium saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
- Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with granulated sugar and heat the sugar until it is completely melted and clear, tilting and swirling the pan as necessary to keep the granulated sugar/melted sugar moving so that it doesn't scorch unevenly.
- Once the sugar is all melted, continue cooking until the syrup colours and turns a golden amber colour.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the butter, swirling carefully to melt and incorporate it.
- Add the diced apple, and using a wooden spoon, stir to evenly coat in caramel.
- Place the pot back on the stove and cook the compote on medium heat until the apples soften, become translucent, and begin to break down a little.
- Take the pan off the heat, and transfer the compote to a bowl. Refrigerate until cold.
Tart assembly
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C). Line a 10x15 inch (25x38 cm) sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Using a rolling pin, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the cold puff pastry to fit the pan from edge to edge (or almost). It doesn't have to be too exact and if you are using a pre-rolled sheet of puff pastry, it may already fit depending on the brand.
- Using a fork, dock (a.k.a. prick) the pastry all over to allow steam and air to escape while it bakes.
- Dollop and spread the cold apple compote from edge to edge to coat the pastry dough.
- Arrange the thinly sliced apple evenly on the apple compote, from edge to edge.
- Bake until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. You may rotate the pan once during baking to make sure the tart browns evenly. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out.The tart should take about 45 minutes to bake.
Glaze
- As soon as the tart comes out of the oven, set the pan on a cooling rack.
- Brush the sliced apple topping with maple syrup (or melted apple jelly) to coat all of the fruit with a thin layer.
- Let cool completely, then cut into 8 squares and serve immediately.
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