One of my all time favorite desserts is French Apple Tart--it's not just my favorite, but also my pretty much everyone in my family. That means I am making French Apple Tart for every special occasion. The problem is that my usual French Apple Tarts are a labor of love. They are really time intensive and get gobbled up within seconds of cutting!


Ingredients
For the pastry:
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
* 1/2 cup ice water

For the apples:
* 4 Granny Smith apples
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced
* 1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam or preserves

Directions
For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

Peel and core the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples making rows on until the pastry is covered with apple slices. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

TIPS:

1. If you can't find apricot jelly {which you probably won't--I have never found it}, then preserves or jam will work. However, you need to heat it and then press it through a sieve. You can skip sieving it IF you are extra careful and don't get any bits of fruit on the tart. You want the jam or preserves to act as a glaze so you don't want any chunks or bits of fruit!
2. You can also skip making the pastry dough and use premade pie dough instead. Either make the tart round and adjust your ingredients OR join two premade pie crust doughs together.
3. Make sure that you use parchment paper to line your baking sheet. Do NOT use wax paper--it WILL stick.