So, I am kind of excited…today is our very first entry into to a food blog contest. Which one you ask? … It is the Royal Food Joust by The Leftover Queen. The basic premise is that every month, 3 ingredients are chosen that must be incorporated into one recipe. The three ingredients for this month were apples, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. So, after some serious consideration I came up with an apple tart topped with maple whipped cream and apple cayenne reduction. I know, sounds fancy right…but really it is not difficult. It is one of those recipes that looks and sounds fancy, but really did not take too much effort to make. The apple tart starts with a store-bought pastry dough that is then filled with Granny Smith apple slices that have been tossed in a mixture of sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, maple syrup and cinnamon. The tart is then baked in a 400 degree oven for only 30 minutes. While the tart bakes and then cools, heavy cream is whisked with maple syrup and some room temperature goat cheese … I know kinda weird, but in this case I was afraid the maple syrup would be too sweet … after some thought, I decided to use goat cheese with the cream, which mellows the sweetness out slightly with it’s extra creamy and tangy personality. Finally, I drizzled a sweet and spicy syrup made out of apple juice, cayenne pepper and a small amount of maple syrup.
| Apple Tart with Maple Whipped Cream and Apple Cayenne Syrup |
- Apple Tart
- 1 unbaked pie crust
- 3 Granny Smith apples
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- Maple Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- Appe Cayenne Syrup
- 2 cups apple juice
- dash of cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Peel and core the apples, then slice into about 1/4 inch slices. Toss the apples with the sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, lemon juice, maple syrup and salt, then set aside.
- Roll out the unbaked pie crust to about 14 inch circle, then carefully place the dough inside a tart pan without stretching the dough. Overlap the apples in a fan pattern around the tart pan. Fold over any excess pastry, removing some if there is to much excess just so there is a small lip at the edge of the tart. Place the tart in the oven for 30 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
- While the tart is baking, make the maple whipped cream and apple cayenne reduction.
- After 30 minutes, remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the goat cheese with a hand mixer. Add the cream and maple syrup, then use the hand mixer at low speed until the mixture starts to get frothy then gradually increase speed until the cream slightly bends over at the top when you remove the whisks, this is called soft peaks.
- Add all ingredients into a saucepan over medium high heat and simmer until the mixture reduces into a light syrup, about 20 minutes.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW! Joanne! You totally outdid yourself for your first Joust entry! I love the addition of goat cheese in the maple whip. If you have ever read my blog, you know what a HUGE goat (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc) and maple freak I am! This is awesome! Thanks so much for your entry and best of luck in the Joust!
Good luck, this looks fab.
Hi guys,
My name is Richard and I am the founder of maplesyrupworld.com, we would be interested to showcase your Apple Tart with Maple Whipped Cream and Apple Cayenne Syrup recipe on our site.
Give me a shout!