Apple Rose Tart with Maple Custard and Walnut Crust (Gluten Free)
Your guests will be wowed by this gorgeous apple rose tart, with a toasty walnut crust and a silky sweet maple custard filling. And it’s gluten-free!
Do you guys know Hip Foodie Mom? She’s one of my favoritest bloggers ever!
This week she is moving herself and her whole family alllllll the way from Seattle, Washington to Madison, Wisconsin.
I KNOW!
Kind of a big deal. Far. And a whole different sort of scene. Not to mention climate.
She’s kinda got her hands full right now, so I’ve been invited to fill in for the day! Woot!
I’m totally psyched to be guest posting for Alice. I made her this tart as a pseudo-housewarming gift. It came out really pretty!
And tasty!
And it’s gluten-free!
So hop on over to Hip Foodie Mom and check it out! She’s got the recipe and lots more pretty pictures. Say hi! Tell her Allie sent you 😉
Update: Alice was kind enough to allow me to share the recipe with you here! No extra clicking required! Thanks a bunch, Alice!
*Update: It has been brought to my attention that the idea for an apple rose tart originates with the legendary French pastry chef Alain Passard.
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Apple Rose Tart with Maple Custard and Walnut Crust (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
For the Walnut Crust
- 2 1/2 cups (292.5 g) walnut pieces
- 4 tablespoons (59.15 g) unsalted butter, (half a stick), melted
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 egg white, (large)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Maple Custard
- 1 1/2 cups (354.88 ml) milk
- 6 egg yolks, (large)
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (32 g) cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Apple topping
- 3 fresh apples, (approximately) quartered, cored, and sliced very thin (keep in lemon water until ready to use)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, (juice of 1 fresh lemon)added to a large bowl of cold water
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) honey, optional
Instructions
Make the Walnut Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a food processor or chopper, pulse the walnuts until they are finely chopped, and the pieces are about the size of breadcrumbs.
- Place the chopped nuts in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients, tossing together with a fork.
- Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Cool completely, then fill with maple custard and top with apples.
Make the Maple Custard:
- Pour the milk into a small pot and place over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges.
- Whisk the egg yolks, maple syrup, cornstarch, and salt together in a bowl until combined.
- Slowly pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, while whisking, to warm the eggs.
- Transfer the mixture back to the pot and place over low heat.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes very thick.
- Turn off the heat, add the vanilla, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heat safe bowl.
- Place plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Assemble the Apple Rose Tart:
- Spread the maple custard in the walnut tart shell.
- Warm the apple slices in the microwave until pliable.
- Roll a slice of apple into a tight spiral and stand it up vertically in the custard.
- Continue to arrange apple slices in a concentric pattern around the first one, building a rose pattern.
- Repeat until the top of the tart is completely covered with apple roses.
- Brush honey over the apples, for shine (optional).
Allie, what an absolute stunner! And I loved watching that little video. So amazing! I can’t wait to show this to my husband (he’s the pie/tart maker in our house). I don’t think he’ll need much convincing to make this for Thanksgiving 🙂
Thanks so much Amy! Your hubby sounds like a real pro in the kitchen. I remember you saying he’s good with meringue too. I’m impressed! Isn’t it great being married to a foodie? 😉 Thanks for the sweet comment and hope you’re enjoying your day!
“Almost” to pretty to eat, giggle. lovely and yummy. hugs!
Thank you Katherine! Hope you’re having a fun week 😉
What a stunning and elegant tart. love the creative way you incorporated apples into this dish. I can’t wait to try making this. It would be a huge hit at Thanksgiving, I’m sure!
Yay, I’m so happy you like it, Jamie! I hope you have fun making it and I hope your loved ones enjoy. Thanks so much for reading! 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous, Allie! I can’t get over how perfect this tart looks. It looks too amazing to be apples!
Wow, thanks, Ashley! It’s so great to hear that. When my face was 6 inches from it and I was fumbling through I was thinking it looked kinda messy. I guess sometimes you just have to step back and get the overall impression. Thanks so much for reading and for the sweet compliment!
UnREAL Allie! That has to be the prettiest tart I have ever, EVER seen! You are so freakin’ talented girl!
Trish that means an awful lot coming from a superstar like you! Thanks so much for the sweet comment… 🙂
STUNNING! I have seen these done before and been so intrigued to try and attempt, now I’m even more inspired! This is so beautiful! Pinning!
Wow, thanks Tahny! I hope you have fun making it, and thank you so much for sharing on Pinterest!
Allie, this looks absolutely amazing. I am seriously so impressed. Didn’t know you could do this with an apple, it is beautiful! Pinned!
Wow, thank you so much, Krista! 😀
This is gorgeous but I’m afraid if I made it I wouldn’t want to eat it because it’s so pretty. Thanks for sharing on the weekend re-Treat link party!
My pleasure, Britni! I’m so happy you liked the post, and thank you for hosting! 🙂
Hi Allie! Just wanted to let you know that we featured you on the Weekend re-Treat link party this week. Hope you come join up again. http://www.playpartypin.com/2013/11/weekend-re-treat-link-party-42.html
Hi Britni! Thank you so much for the feature! I’ll pop over to have a look, but unfortunately I don’t have anything to link this week. I’ve been a bit under the weather 🙁 Thanks for stopping by to let me know about the feature, and hopefully next week I’ll have something yummy to link.
I’d say it’s gorgeous! Tuned out fabulous. And, I have to agree that that is a far move! Heading over to get the recipe and pinning!
Thank you so much Gloria! And thanks for sharing with your followers 🙂
Is it supposed to be liqudy when I pour into the crust??? I’m guessing not because how would the apples stand up?? What did I do wrong??? 🙁
No, it’s not meant to be liquidy. I’m not quite sure what went wrong for you, dear. Did you chill the custard in the fridge before putting it in the crust? Did you maybe not cook it long enough on the stove? It should be pretty well thickened on the stove, but it will thicken even more as it cools. Mine was about the consistency of pudding.
Ya it wasn’t that thick when I took it off tr stove.. Thankfully I was able to put it back on the stove an thicken it some more! Turned out great!!! I couldnt get The Apple slices to wrap as tightly as yours without snapping even though I used the thinnest setting of a mandolin and microwaved them lol but maybe the Type of apple matters? I used red delicious. Anyway still came our great Thank you 🙂
Oh well I’m glad the custard worked out after all! I snapped a lot of apple slices in the process too. It took me some time to get the hang of it. I found that if the apple slices were too stiff I could nuke them for another few seconds to find the sweet spot. But some of them also got overcooked, and just fell apart. Kind of a fussy process but the result is definitely a stunner! I’m so happy it worked well for you. Thanks for reading, Amanda!
As a longtime baker but firsttime custard maker, I was very close to the same thing happening. I took mine off the heat when it covered the back of the spoon and had gotten comparatively thicker, but it turns out that that happens pretty early in the heating process, way before it has turned into a pudding-like consistency. Glad I saw this thread and response, so I put it back on the heat and it’s now cooling in my fridge. That back-of-the-spoon thing just threw me!
great thank you!! cooking now 🙂
This is stunning! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Hi! Such a gorgeous tart!!! I bought all the ingredients and I’m about to make it but….do you not have to bake the custard? I saw in the original custard recipe she baked the custard so I just wanted to make sure if it was supposed to be baked after being poured into the crust or not! Sorry never made custard before!! 🙂
Hi Amanda! That is a great question, I actually adapted the original custard recipe so that it would not need to be baked, because the crust would burn in the amount of time it would take for the custard to set in the oven. Instead, the custard is cooked on the stovetop. Just cook it gently and temper the eggs, so they don’t scramble, and then strain and cool it in the fridge. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!
Such a fabulous looking tart. The apple roses are absolutely stunning!
Thank you so much, Vicky and Ruth! It was easy once I got the hang of it. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you two are enjoying your weekend!
This tart is absolutely gorgeous. I would almost hate to cut into it as I wouldn’t want to mess it up, but I’m sure it tastes as great as it looks!
Thanks, Marcie! It was a lot of fun to decorate, I love stuff like that!
hello how can i get them so that i can test
Hi and thanks for reading! Sorry I’m not understanding your question. Could you please clarify and I’ll be happy to help you however I can. Thanks!
This is absolutely the most beautiful apple tart I have ever seen! I am allergic to walnuts but I can eat pecans and or hazelnuts, I am from Italy and we use a simple vanilla custard but the idea of maple sounds wonderful.
I am glint to try creating a variation and posting to my food blog, I will credit you for the original version and also include links to your recipe and blog.
Thank you for such a wonderful idea for the fall and holiday season.
Sounds wonderful, Annette! Lots of luck to you, and thank you so much for the sweet compliments!