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 ½ 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)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Maple Custard
- 1 ½ cups (354.88 ml) milk
- 6 egg yolks, (large)
- ½ cup (118.29 ml) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (32 g) cornstarch
- ½ 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
- ¼ 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.
- 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).
I made this today for a cookout at a friend's house. It was a hit everyone loved it .
I'm so glad to hear that Brenda! Thanks so much for the awesome feedback 🙂
Hi Allie,
Your tart is absolutely gorgeous, hope I'll be able to make it properly for my daughter's birthday in November.
Just a question, could you tell me for how many person is the tart and the ingredients, please?
Thank you very much
Veronique thank you so much! I'm so glad you're going to give it a try! I'm not 100% sure I understand the questions but I will do my best- the recipe makes a 9-inch diameter tart, and you can find all the ingredients in the recipe card. If I'm misunderstanding please don't hesitate to correct me. Thanks again and happy birthday to your daughter!
Thanks a lot for your reply, Allie and sorry if you didn't get my question.
I hope you'll understand it this way: would you say your gorgeous Apple Tart would do for 6 or 8 people?
Thanks again.
Have a lovely day
Oh absolutely! You may even have a bit left over. Sorry I didn't quite understand the first time; I hope that helps! Good luck and enjoy 🙂
Has anyone tried to make a custard with a non dairy "milk" such as almond or coconut? My granddaughter is allergic to milk and I would love to make this for her. Maybe the coconut milk in the can which has more fat in it? I guess I won't know until I try. Any thought?
I don't know if this has been addressed here, but has anyone tried to make a custard with a non dairy product such as almond milk or coconut milk? My granddaughter's name is Rose and I would love to make this for her but she is allergic to milk and dairy products. I can sub for the butter in the crust, but wonder how the custard would turn out with a non dairy milk? I guess I won't know until I try. Maybe coconut milk in the can, which has more fat in it?
Susan I have a recipe right here on the blog for coconut milk custard. It works beautifully. Here's the direct link: https://bakingamoment.com/how-to-make-pastry-cream-video/. Good luck and don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions 🙂
Just tried to make this for Valentine's day. . . Love the crust, love the custard, but I'm curious what kind of apples you used. I tried McIntosh and there was no way after soaking in the lemon water they were going to do anything but fall apart. I ended up just chopping them up and sprinkling some brown sugar over the top. it was delicious, just not as pretty. I also made the custard in the microwave and it worked great!
Hey Sally! I'm so sorry you had trouble with the tart! It sounds like you may have missed step #2 under "Assemble the tart." You need to microwave the apple slices until warm and pliable. I've made the tart more than once, with different varieties of apple depending upon the season, and it's really everything to do with the slices being thin, warm, and pliable. I hope that helps! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you have better luck next time!
So beautiful that I have to try making it
Cant wait to try it, how long can you keep it out for before the apples start to brown?
Hey Jen! When I make it, the apples don't really brown for at least a day or so. I make sure to put plenty of lemon in the water, and I think the glaze helps too. Good luck and enjoy!
Hi,
Wow looks very suficticated and elegant! Is it possible to get the recipe?!??
Oh yes of course! The recipe lives on Hip Foodie Mom's blog. I linked to it at the bottom of the post. Definitely go check it out! And thank you for the kind words 😀
It looks delicious!!!
Thank you, Teofilo! 🙂
Allie, this is ridiculously gorgeous!! I could see this being served at a wedding, baby shower, bridal shower...oh the possibilities! =)
Thank you so much, Lindsey! I'm so happy you liked it; I sure had a lot of fun fussing over it 😉
I made this following all the directions. After 48 hours, my filling had still not set. The custard had almost no flavor and was just a rich creamy kind of maple flavored custard. The crust turned out the best, but next time would add a combo of nuts or add some other type of crust to reduce the intense walnut flavor. Still don't know why my custard didn't ever set, anyone have any ideas?
Hi Dklock! I'm so sorry you had difficulty. Custards can be tricky and if you take a moment to read some of the other comments on this post, you will see that you are not the only one who had trouble initially. I told many of my other readers that if they cooked the custard longer it would thicken up. I'm certain that is the culprit, as it solved the problem perfectly for other commenters. Do take a glance over to check out my advice to them and learn from their experience. As for the flavor, it is not meant to be aggressively flavored, but rather a rich and creamy kind of maple flavored custard. If you are looking for a bolder flavor, you could always supplement with a drop or two of maple extract, or try using a lower-grade (less refined) maple syrup. As for the crust, I've tried it with all sorts of nuts and it works beautifully! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you'll have better luck with the custard next time around.
Hi there! I'm inspired and I'm going to make this tomorrow. I just had a few questions for you.
1. How far in advance do you think it's ok to make this and still have the apples stay edible? I was planning on making it about 24 hours ahead and storing it in the fridge.
2. Do you think it's necessary to store it in something airtight?
3 . Is it important that this tart remain cold constantly until it's served?
Thanks so much!
Good Morning Sandy! Thanks so much for reading and I'm so happy to have inspired you! I think the apples should be ok for 24 hours. I gave my tart away several hours after taking the pics, and it never did get brown. Probably because I took the time to soak the apple slices in lemony water, I'm guessing. But if you're in doubt, I'm sure that glaze would probably help keep it fresher looking. I always like to wrap things before putting them in the fridge, just because of odors and stuff, but in this case, you probably wouldn't want to wrap it too tight and squoosh the apples roses! And finally, I think the tart would taste best if served cold, just because of that custard, but if there's not room in the fridge right up until the very second you serve it, I'm sure it would be ok. Just watch and make sure the custard isn't looking runny, sometimes it starts to get like that if it gets warm. Good luck and have lots of fun with it! 😀
This is STUNNING!
Thank you so much, Laura! I love pretty food so I had a lot of fun fussing over it 😉
I love apple rose tart and this is so pretty!! In fact, too pretty to cut into 😉
Thanks, Kiran! I'm so happy you like it. Apple desserts are my favorite at this time of year 🙂
This is an absolutely gorgeous tart!!!!
Thanks Nichi! I love pretty food and I had a lot of fun fussing over it 😉
Allie, this is such a beautiful tart. It's so pretty that I almost wouldn't want to eat it. Great job! 🙂
Thanks Julie! And thanks so much for checking out my blog! 🙂
AMAZING! I love the flowers that you did! WOW!! Pinning!
Gosia | Kiddie Foodies
Thanks, Gosia! And thank you so much for sharing on Pinterest!
It's the most beautiful dessert I've seen in a long time!
Wow, thank you so much Winnie! I'm so happy you like it so much. I had a lot of fun playing around with it 🙂