• Heat your oven to 175°C (fan).
• To make the pastry: Mix the flour, butter, sugar and egg into a soft dough and put it on a sheet of floured baking paper. Sprinkle more flour on top and roll into a circle about ½cm thick and 25 to 30cm in diameter.
• Pick up the pastry by rolling it (and the paper) over your rolling pin, and lay it carefully over a 22-25cm round tart dish or tin — paper down. Cut the excess of baking paper and dough with scissors.
• Blind bake the base until pale beige for 10 minutes. Set aside.
• For the compote: peel and core 8 apples and cut into small pieces. Cook in a pan for 20-30 minutes at medium heat with a bit of water until the apples have softened.
• Once cooked, cool down and add the honey and vanilla essence. Liquidise to break them down — I like to leave a bit of chunky texture.
• For the topping: quarter the remaining 4 (unpeeled) apples and cut into thin slices. The thinner they are, the easier to form the roses. Poach them gently in a large frying pan with about 50-80ml of water for approximately 10 minutes until they soften. Once soft, drain off all the water and dry completely on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
• Spread a 1cm layer of compote over the cooked pastry. You may not need it all.
• When you are ready to bake the tart, preheat your oven to 180°C, then you can create the apple roses. Do this by taking one slice of apple and rolling it into a sausage shape, then rolling another slice around it; then another one until you have formed a rose. Four slices should make a medium rose; six, a bigger one. Arrange the roses on the apple compote until completely covered .
• Bake for 35-40 minutes approximately until all the apples roses are golden brown.
• Serve decorated with dried rose buds/petals if you wish. And you could brush with a little runny honey for extra gloss.

homecookingbyfabienne

First published in the JC September 03 2020