How could anything be more beautifully delicate? Apple rose tartlets are the perfect centrepieces for your tea table, and are a hit every time!
Recipe by Sarah Dall
Photograph by Dawie Verwey
Apple rose tartlets
Ingredients
- 125g shortcrust pastry
Lemon mousse filling
- 250ml (1 cup) double thick cream
- 20ml (4 tsp) fresh lemon juice
- 20ml (4 tsp) lemon zest
- 50g castor sugar
Apple rose petals
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
- 125ml (½ cup) rose water
- few drops pale pink gel food colouring
- icing sugar, to dust
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Roll out the pastry and cut out 6 x 8cm rounds. Line 6 x 6cm round tart tins with pastry. Cover the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind until the pastry is lightly golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
For the lemon mousse filling, combine the cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and castor sugar, and refrigerate until set.
For the apple rose petals, cut the apples into quarters and thinly slice the quarters. Place the apple slices, rose water and colouring into a small pot and simmer until the apple is soft, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
To assemble the tarts, spoon the lemon filling into the tart cases. To make the apple roses, twirl a piece of poached apple to resemble a rose bud and place in the centre of the tart. Layer pieces of poached apple around the central bud in the formation of petals until the apple pieces resemble a rose. Repeat for all tarts and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
