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).
Allie, pegar a beauty! I made it for this year mother's day dessert. Lovely?
So happy you enjoyed, Claudia! Thanks for the good feedback!
Thanks so much for your reply! I will wait to assemble it then. Hope it turns out as nice as your pictures! Thanks again!
This looks really beautiful. How far in advance do you think would it be ok to make it? Would two days in advance be ok? Just don’t want the roses to look worse a couple days later..
Hey Annie! I'm so happy you like this. Honestly I would not recommend making it that far in advance. Like you said, the apples will start to brown and shrivel, and the crust will start to get soggy. However, if you'd like to do some prep ahead, you can make the crust and make the filling. Then all you have to do is assemble it on the day you'd like to serve. Hope that's helpful!
Hi Allie, to reduce the number of calories can I substitute the milk with soy milk and sugar with stevia?
Hi Polina! To be honest I have never tried that, but it seems like it would probably work. If you give it a try, please loop back and let us know how you liked the results. Thanks!
Have been fascinated with this beautiful tart for a couple years - finally giving it a try this Thanksgiving ( I know, late to the party- story of my life). My question is do the apples stay somewhat crunchy when it's served? I keep thinking about the texture combination crust, coolness of the custard and then somewhat crunchy apples? Thank you in advance for any additional information.
Hey Shannan! The apples aren’t really crunchy at all because they’re cooked. If you check out the video, you’ll get an idea of how soft they are. Hope that’s helpful! Good luck & enjoy!
I love getting your recipes in my email bit it's so frustrating to click on them and then have to click again for the recipe. How about eliminating the 2nd click? 🙂
Hey Cathy! There shouldn't be any need to click more that one time. If you click the "read more" button it takes you straight to the post. Recipe card is usually towards the bottom there.
Do you think its possible to replace to walnuts with almonds? Xx
Sure, that should be no problem. Good luck!
How do you slice the apple so it doesn't break off?
I'm not sure if I'm completely understanding your question Linda, but I just sliced them thinly with a sharp knife and then cooked them until they were soft and pliable. I hope that's somewhat helpful!
How far in advance can this be made?
Probably no more than a day or so, Anna. The apples will start to oxidize and turn brown as they are exposed to the air. But you could make the crust and filling ahead, and just assemble it all on the day of. Hope that helps!
I just made this today and it turned out pretty well! my people are dairy free so i subbed coconut milk (from the can). the custard turned out but it was definitely heavy on coconut flavour! so heads up to anyone who does the same.
i was also impatient and have never made custard before, but it took a LONG time to thicken - like over 15 mins. not sure if that is normal, so i cranked the heat (before reading that you're not supped to!) and then stuck it in the fridge to thicken more. holds up the apple slices and my dog enjoyed sharing all the extra apple slices.
Thanks for the recipe!
My pleasure Shannon! So glad you were happy with it! Thanks for the good feedback 🙂
Hi there! So pretty! About how long on the stove for the custard to thicken?
As soon as it starts to come to a bubble you should notice it gets much thicker, Emma! That can vary based on how hot your stove is, but on mine it usually takes 5-10 minutes on medium-low. Good luck and enjoy!
How do you recommend I soften the apples if I don't have a microwave?
Liz you can give them a quick blanche in simmering water, and then chill them down on ice water to shock them. Hope that helps!
Excellent. I'll give that a go. Thanks a bunch, Allie!
You bet! Good luck Liz!
hi, i m shabnam from Iran. i want to make this recipie today but my diameter tart is 11 inch.. how much ingredients should i use?
Hi Shabnam! I'm so sorry but this recipe is meant for a 9-inch diameter tart pan. It has not been tested for any other size. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you, but if you're able to make it work I would love for you to stop back and leave a comment telling us what you did. Thanks so much and good luck!
Hello. Just a question please. Do we weigh then nuts before of after grounding? It looks like before but just to make sure because 2 1/2 cups of not grounded nuts will not produce the same quantity when grounded. Sorry if this is a stupid question 🙂
Hey there Hala! It's not a stupid question at all, that can actually be very confusing to a lot of people. For this recipe, I measured my walnut pieces first (2 1/2 cups) and then processed them. After processing, it would probably measure less because the pieces would be smaller, with less air space in between. I hope that's helpful! Good luck and thanks for reading 🙂
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?