French Apple Tarts

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 170C/150C fan and line a baking tray with non-stick greaseproof (baking) paper.

Step 2

First make the frangipane, if you’re using it. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until they come together. Then, add the egg and beat until combined. Finally, add the almonds and teaspoon of sugar and gently mix until it’s all a consistent mix.

Step 3

Roll out your puff pastry (if it’s not pre-rolled) into a big rectangle – it should be about half a centimetre thick. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut it into 12 smaller rectangles.

Step 4

Prepare a chopping board and knife, melt a wee knob of butter in a cup in the microwave and place some icing sugar in a dry sieve or tea strainer. One by one, chop the apples into quarters, core them, and then chop each quarter into lots of thin slices. Aim for about 1-2mm thick.

Step 5

As you’re chopping you can prepare each wee tart – smear a rough teaspoon of frangipane on each pastry rectangle, followed by a cascade of apple slices. Then (this will stop them going brown, too) you can brush them with some melted butter and sprinkle generously with icing sugar.

Step 6

Once they are all prepared, bake in the oven for a good 30-40 minutes, until they are a very dark brown and the apples are gloriously caramelised.

Enjoy!