Apple and Raisin Tart | The Woman in Black
The landlord recommended a glass of mulled wine, which I drank sitting before the fire, listening to the murmur of voices on the other side of the heavy door leading to the public bar, and his wife made my mouth water in anticipation of the supper she proposed - home-made broth, sirloin of beef, apple and raisin tart with cream, and some Stilton cheese.
The Woman in Black
Susan Hill
Winter has well and faded from my life now, and the sunny weekends that are beginning to spring up are just more of an indication. It's a little odd this side of the world - Halloween was never part of my childhood, outside of the odd mention of it in American television shows or movies, but there was never a night spent trick or treating or dressing up. It seems to be creeping further into Australian culture these days - in cities at least, and I've spent the last few years handing out lollies and icy poles to costumed children each Halloween evening.
A little of the atmosphere of Halloween is lost without the autumn months, instead of pumpkins and falling leaves, we have sunshine and new plants sprouting everywhere. This hasn't gotten in the way of my pre-Halloween reading though, even if it does leave me craving stormy weather and mulled wine.
My latest spooky read in preparation was the classic, The Woman in Black. I flew through this book - as someone that does not enjoy horror films (I should probably stop saying this, as I do like well made horror more so), I thoroughly do enjoy a bit of a scary story in book form. My only other glimpse to the plot of the book was a viewing of the play, The Woman in Black, something that is so incredibly well done I cannot emphasise enough that people should see a production of it when they have the chance.
In line with the somewhat autumn style that Halloween and the almost cosy atmosphere that comes along with it, the food within The Woman in Black has that warmth to it also. Mulled wine, roasted hunks of meat and an array of tarts. We have quite lovely apples throughout the year in Australia luckily, and I really can't go past my favourite, the Granny Smith. It's somewhat sour, tarty and my childhood years were basically formed around having a slightly chilled on in my lunchbox to munch into every recess. In this tart, they turn into a caramelised deliciousness that will have you eating an entire tart in one sitting. True story.
Apple and Raisin Tart
Serves around 6 people
Ingredients
Crust
550g plain flour
50g caster sugar
220g butter, broken into pieces
185ml milk
Filling
4 apples, I use Granny Smith usually
30g brown sugar
30g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 lemon, juiced
300g apricot jam
Pinch of sea salt
Start the crust of the tart by combining the butter, flour and caster sugar together into a bowl. Use your hands to work the butter into the flour and sugar until it resembles wet sand. Make a hole in the middle and add in the milk, mix until there are no lumps and it comes together into a ball. Wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.
Preheat your oven to 180C approximately half an hour before you're planning to roll the dough. Once the dough has chilled for long enough, remove it from the fridge and roll it out thinly - you should be able to press it into the edges of a tart case without it tearing, but keeping in mind not to have it too thick. Line the dough in the case with baking paper and using baking beans, actual dried beans or rice, weigh the paper down and blind bake the tart case for about 20 minutes. Remove and leave to the side to cool. You can leave the oven on at this stage if you're planning on preparing the rest of the tart straight away.
Core each of the apples (you can peel if you want, I tend not to) and slice them thinly. You can do this part however you like - if you want it to be quite neat try and keep each slice the same size, but it really doesn't matter.
Once all the apples have been sliced place them into a bowl with the lemon juice, the sugars, cinnamon and sea salt. Mix well so that the sugar and cinnamon covers every slice of apple.
Heat the apricot jam lightly until it begins to soften and melt a little - place to the side.
Spread a thin layer of the apricot jam across the bottom of the blind baked tart case so it covers the whole bottom of the tart. Place the apple slices across this until they are all in the tart case (any pattern you want to do it fine). Try and avoid getting too much liquid into the tart at this stage, otherwise it will make the bottom quite soggy.
Glaze the prepared tart with any remaining apricot jam and place into the oven for 30 minutes or until the apples have softened and the tart case is a golden brown. Remove and let cool before serving. Enjoy!