Whiskey Apple Tarts were one of the first things I thought of when I thought of adding Whiskey to food. Irish, Speyside or an American Tennessee Whiskey goes so well with apples.
I tried 3 different styles of whiskey in the apple tarts: Grace O’Malley, Glenmorangie Signet and Slane. I also experimented with Brandy as I thought that combination would be good. Turns out the whiskey tasted better.
I make my own apple butter but understand not everyone has the time or inclination so apple sauce can be used as long as the apple sauce is not too sweet. If you want to make your own apple butter it’s easy, but time consuming. I’ll include my recipe below.
Sweet Italian Pie Dough
- 262 grams (1 and ¾ cup) white cake flour or Spelt Flour (plain flour, not cream or self rising).
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 112 grams (½ cup) sugar
Mix dry ingredients then add
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk (save the white to brush the tops of your tart)
- 120 grams (½ cup) room temp butter
- Mix in a bowl OR pulse in a food processor until ball forms.
- Take out and work until smooth. Wrap tightly in plastic and place in fridge for 60 minutes.
- Once cooled. Roll out a piece of the dough onto a lightly floured board. Place into the tart pan and trim edges.
Mini Tart
One to 2 cooking apples peeled and thinly sliced. You may slice right before adding to the top of the tart to avoid browning. If you want to keep the slices from browning you may soak them in whiskey. I did this and it doesn’t really add to the taste but is better than using citric acid or lemon juice which can detract from the over all flavour unless washed off.
The Caramel
- 1 table spoon dark brown sugar Or 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon water or a smidge more to make into a sandy paste
- Boil for 1 min until caramelized
Add
- 80 grams (1/3 cup) apple butter or apple sauce (best to use unsweetened or lightly sweetened) Enough to almost fill the crust leaving just enough room for a topping of sliced apples.
- Sprinkle of cinnamon
- Pinch of allspice
- Stir in the apple butter and heat until firm. Simmer if needed.
- Set aside and cool briefly. Add 1 tablespoon whiskey and mix
- Add the caramel apple sauce to the raw tart crust
- Add thinly sliced apples on top to form a pattern. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake in a 200 C oven for 25 min. Reduce heat to 150 and cook for another 5-10 min or until brown and bubbling.
- Add thinly sliced apples on top to form a pattern. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.
- May serve with a dollop of whiskey whipped cream because I will gild that lily
Amounts for a 20 cm pie pan
Same amount of dough. Dough can be wrapped tightly and kept in the fridge for up to 3 days, frozen for several weeks.
- 454 grams (2 cups) apple butter or unsweetened apple sauce
- 55 grams (¼ cup) dark brown sugar
- 55 grams (¼ cup) light brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoon water (or more to create a watery sandy paste)
- 60 grams (1/3 cup) whiskey. I chose a none peated whiskey here. So either a Speyside, Irish or American. Preferably a strong rich tasting whiskey on the sweeter side, Grace O’Malley, Slane, Glenmorangie, Jack Daniels are suggestions. If anyone uses a peated whiskey, let me know. I do plan to experiment with a peated whiskey at some point.
- 1 teaspoon corn starch (corn flour)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of allspice
- 1-2 apples cored peeled and thinly sliced
- Egg white for wash
Method
- Place the brown sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Boil on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until sugar begins to caramelize. Remove from stove and add the apple butter, stir to remove any lumps.
- Add 1 teaspoon corn starch (corn flour) to the whiskey and stir until mixed. When apple mixture has cooled add the whiskey and spices, mix thoroughly.
- Roll out the Italian sweet dough and place in a prepared pie tin (one may coat the inside of the pie plate with butter and flour or a round of parchment paper). Add the apple filling leaving room for sliced apples. Arrange sliced apples in a pattern on the filling. Brush the sliced apples with egg whites and sprinkle with sugar (I used Demerara but any sugar will work).
- Place in preheated oven.
- Bake for 30 min at 190 C Then reduce heat and bake for another 5-10 min at 150 until bubbling and brown on top
Apple Butter
- 5-10 large apples of at least 2 different varieties
- 224 – 448 grams (1-2 cups) sugar (either raw sugar or brown)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Use a variety of apples (sweet and cooking apples) core but leave the skin on half the apples (preferably the sweet apples or whatever apple has the thinnest skin). Simmer with enough sugar to taste (1 cup of sugar to 3 cups apples) feel free to add water if the sauce is too thick. Once the apples have simmered cool and put into a food mill or blender to make a smooth sauce. At this point taste to see if the sauce is as sweet as you want, if not add more sugar. Put on stove again and simmer until your sauce is thick enough to spread like butter. Need to stir frequently so the bottom doesn’t burn. When consistency is where you want it, add a tablespoon of vanilla extract. At this point you may preserve the sauce using a water bath or place in containers and freeze.
Bonus Dessert! Whiskey Apple Snow
At the end of the larger tart recipe, I had whiskey apple butter left over so with the remaining egg white (from the egg wash) I made whiskey Apple Snow. Now this dessert may benefit from using a peated whiskey. I’ll have to make this again on purpose (and not as an afterthought) to see if a peated whiskey goes well with the rest of the ingredients.
Whiskey Apple Snow
- 240 grams (1 cup) apple butter
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of allspice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (or more to taste if a sweeter dessert is desired)
- 1 tablespoon whiskey
- 1 egg white
- Pinch of salt.
Add apple butter, sugar, whiskey and spices together OR use any remaining apple tart filling. Make sure apple butter mixture is cool. Whip the egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Fold in the egg whites to the apple butter until mixed. Serve. May keep in the fridge for several hours.
Hip Cask 