Autumnal Baking - Apple and Marzipan Crumble Tart

OMG this one is a good one. I love autumn baking.

I decided to make some tweaks to an old favourite, because despite the boyfriend CLAIMING he enjoyed my Apple and Marzipan Pie when I first made it, now he doesn’t. Right.

So, I took what he didn’t like (big chunks of apple) and decided to make stewed apple to put on top of the marzipan layer. And he LOVES crumble, so I topped it with a spiced cinnamon almond crumble. Note – this is also a MUCH easier topping than a pie crust!

I have to confess, this is the first time I’ve ever made stewed apple. For some reason I thought it was a really labour intensive , time-consuming process. FALSE.

It’s so easy! It’s the opposite of labour intensive. Do it now. You won’t regret it.

Ingredients for the stewed apple

• 2 medium cooking apples, peeled and diced roughly into small chunks
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar
• 1 tbsp water

Ingredients for the pastry

• 150g plain flour
• Pinch salt
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 70g chilled butter, diced
• 1 small egg, beaten

Ingredients for the marzipan filling

• 150g marzipan, diced
• 50g butter
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 large egg, beaten

Ingredients for the crumble topping

• 100g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 65g diced cold butter
• 50g ground almonds
• 25g demerera sugar
• 25g granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Start with the stewed apple.  Place the ingredients in a small saucepan and place over a moderate heat. Stir, and when you start to get a little bubbling, turn the heat down and cover.

Stir every now and again and after about 15-20 minutes you should have some soft, sweet stewed apple.

Set this aside and crack on with the pastry. Put the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl.  Add the butter and rub this in with your hands until you have a mixture resembling breadcrumbs. Then add about a half of the egg and mix together with a spoon. Add the rest of the egg if needed to form a ball of dough.

Transfer this to the fridge to chill for 15 minutes, wrapped in clingfilm.

Now you can make the marzipan filling. Begin with premade or homemade marzipan. See my recipe for marzipan if you’re making your own. To the marzipan, add the butter, flour and egg and mix well in the food processor until you have a thick paste.

Now make the crumble topping.  Mix the flour and baking powder, and then rub in the butter with your fingers until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sugar, ground almonds, and cinnamon.

Okay, it's finally time to assemble! Preheat the oven to 190 degrees at this point.

Make the pie crust by rolling out the pastry to approx. 3mm thickness. Place in a pie tin. You will have just enough for a standard pie tin.

Pour over and spread out the marzipan layer.

Dot the stewed apple on top of that.

Finally, scatter the crumble over the top of it all.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Remove and let cool in the pan. Serve while still a little warm. It’s great on its own, but custard is also highly acceptable.