Dutch Appeltaart

My Mom is Dutch and during the holidays we love to indulge in Dutch treats.

This Dutch Appeltaart is easy to make and a fun recipe to bake with your kids.

It brings back so many good memories of traditional Dutch cuisine that we enjoyed around the holiday season.

It has almond undertones and sweet cinnamon and gingery flavors.

The crust is perfect and flaky and i added a little almond extract to round out the tart.

I think you will LOVE it!

Recipe:

Pie Dough

{Original from Martha Stewart}

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tbs. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter, but into small pieces, plus more for pan

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons water

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

Stir together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or rub it in with your fingers until small bits remain.

I use my food processor...it works great!

Stir in egg, water, almond extract, and vanilla until you can form a ball with the dough.

Form 2/3 of the ball into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate until firm...about an hour.

Do the same with the remaining 1/3 and refrigerate for one hour also.

Filling:

2 1/4 pounds~ about 6 cups tart apples, cut in 1/2 inch chunks

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. lemon juice

3 tbs. flour

6 tbs. butter

1 large egg, lightly beaten {for crust top}

Combine all ingredients, stir to coat, and let sit...stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9 inch round springform pan.

Roll out larger disk of dough on a lightly floured surface.

Press all cracks closed and roll big enough to fit onto bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Press dough into pan and sprinkle with a little flour.

Transfer filling into pan.

If it is really juicy, use a slotted spoon and leave juices behind.

Roll out remaining smaller pie dough disk to 1/4 inch.

Cut into 1/2 inch strips and lay half the strips one directions, and half the other direction over the top of the pie. 

Press strips into top edge of dough.

  Brush top and edges with egg wash.

Bake about 1 hour and 15 minutes until crust is golden and apples are tender.

If crust starts to look too dark, put foil over top.

Let cool for 30 minutes until sides of tart start to pull away.

Release from the mold and let cool completely before serving.

It is GREAT with cinnamon whipped cream :). 

 By the time I got around to photographing ...we had eaten half of the Appeltaart!

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

~Julia