I recently picked up some lovely plump blackberries from my local fruit and veg shop and I just couldn't resist making something sweet with them. I went straight to one of my favourite books by Claire Clark (a fantastic pastry chef I'll have you know) and came across a recipe for this tart. It consists of a sweet shortcrust pastry base and frangipan filling which is layered with plenty of apples and blackberries. Claire recommends using Cox's Orange Pippin apples but I decided on Bramleys as they are my apple of choice when it comes to baking. Now this tart is baked in oblong tin, so I had to pinch my mum's (teehee) but I'm sure it would work perfectly well in a standard round flan tin.
After making my sweet pastry, I gave it a couple of hours in the fridge to relax the dough and to ensure that it wouldn't shrink whilst baking. I really took my time with this bake, as I was determined to get it as close to Claire's version as possible. I believe you can turn a simple classic, such as an apple tart, into something really special by using good quality ingredients and taking your time- patience really is a virtue! In my case, this definitely payed off, as I was very pleased with the results.
As you can see from my photos, the recipe quantities were a little generous and so I was able to make some extra tartlets too- never a bad thing! I found that they went down rather nicely with my homemade vanilla ice cream, but a bit of custard or single cream would do!
