Tarte au pommes

Ingredients  serves 6-8
For the Pastry:
175g plain flour
40g butter, diced
40g white vegetable fat, diced
1 egg yolk
water, if necessary

For the Filling:
900g cooking apples
50g butter
2 tbsp water
4tbsp apricot jam
50g caster sugar
grated rind of ½ lemon
225g eating apples
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
about 1 tsp caster sugar for sprinkling

For the glaze:                                                                                                                         4 Tbsp Apricot jam

Method
1. First make the pastry. Measure the flour into a large bowl, add the fats and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and bring the mixture to a dough, adding a little water if necessary. Knead the pastry very lightly, then wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6.
3. While the oven is preheating and the pastry resting, start to make the apple filling. Peel and cut the cooking apples into quarters, remove core and chop the apple into chunks. Melt the butter in a large pan and then add the prepared apples and water. Cover and cook very gently for 10-15 minutes until the apples have become soft and mushy.
4. Puree the apple and add the sugar and grated lemon rind. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until all the excess liquid has been evaporated and the apple mixture is thick. Allow to cool.
5. Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured work surface and use to line a 20cm/8in loose-based fluted flan tin. Cover with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind in the oven for about 1-15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for about another five minutes until the pastry at the base of the flan has dried out.
6. Spoon the cooled apple purée into the flan case and level the surface. Peel, quarter and core the eating apples, then slice them very thinly. Arrange in neat overlapping circles all over the apple purée, brush with the lemon juice and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Return the flan to the oven and bake for about a further 25 minutes or until the pastry and the edges of the apples are lightly browned. Allow to cool a little.                                              7. For the glaze, sieve the apricot jam into a small pan and heat gently until runny. Brush all over the top of the apples and pastry. Serve warm or cold. Alternatively,  forget the apricot glaze and dust with icing sugar then flambé the tart with calvados (Apple brandy).