How to Make Petite Apple Flower Tarts

November 19, 2020. Cold autumn day. Petite Apple Flower Tarts.

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I decided to make these petite tarts on a whim. It’s apple season and I love baking things with apples. I have made this fun French Apple Tart, this delectable Apple Danish, and this easy semi-homemade Apple Tart recently. Today, when I was just scrolling through Pinterest, these cute little rosette-like pastries caught my eyes. I decided to check out a few recipes and found one from JollyTomato.com that I used as an inspiration for this bake.

This recipe is healthy-ish and doesn’t add any sugar to the apples, only some jam glaze, and optional icing sugar at the end for garnishing. Overall, it requires a handful of ingredients, which I think is very manageable.

There are really 3 parts to this recipe: First, the dough or crust. This is a very flexible recipe, you can either use pie crust or puff pastry, either home made or store bought. For this recipe, I’ll show you have to make a simple pie crust, but if you are in a hurry, ready-made pie dough works just as well.

Second, preparing the apples. I think the tarts will look very pretty using red apples, but I used what I had at hand – a pink Sweet Tango and a green Granny Smith. Please feel free to use your favorite apples. And last but not least, assembling the whole thing and glazing it with the apricot jam to hold it together.

For something that looks this fabulous (are those pastel pink and green petals fancy?!), it is surprisingly not too difficulty to make. I’ll walk you through how to make this, step by step. Without further delay, let’s get baking!

Ingredients for Petite Apple Flower Tarts

The items are listed roughly in the order it will be used.

For Pie Crust 

• 1½ cups (210 g) All Purpose Flour, more for dusting
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup (100 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 4-5 Tbsp cold water

For Apple Petals

• 2 apples of your choice 
• 1 lemon, juiced

For Jam Glaze

• 3 Tbsp apricot jam, mixed with 2 tsp water, heated 
• cinnamon powder, to taste (optional) 
• confectioner’s icing sugar for garnish (optional)

You will also need a food processor for making the pie crust, a mandoline or very sharp knife to slice the apples and finally a 6 hole muffin pan to bake the tarts.

Making the Pie Crust

Let’s start by gathering and measuring all the ingredients.

Put flour, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor. Whiz the ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Then, add in water and pulse until a dough is formed.

*Baker’s tip: If you do not have a food processor, simply whisk flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and use your fingertips to rub the cubed butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. (Or use a pastry cutter if you have one handy). Gradually add water and mix with spatula until it forms into a dough.

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When ready, remove and pat dough into a block. Tightly wrap the dough with plastic cling wrap and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

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Preparing the Apple Slices

When the dough is chilling, peel, core, and slice the apple as thinly as possible. Using a kitchen mandoline would help ensure the slices are very thin and even in size.

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Place in microwave safe bowl. Add water to just cover the apple slices. Cut and squeeze lemon juice over the apple slices. Stir to coat the apple and microwave for approx. 2 to 4 minutes to soften. Drain and pat dry the apple slices.

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Preparing the Jam Glaze

Mix 3 heaping tablespoon of Apricot Jam with 2 teaspoon of water. Stir to thoroughly combine. Zap in microwave for about 30 seconds to a minute until it is heated through and that the glaze is thick and spreadable.

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Assembling the Petite Apple Flower Tarts

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). When the dough is ready, roll out on lightly floured work surface into a rectangle as thinly as possible. Cut into 6 long strips.

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Next, brush jam thoroughly over the strips of dough. Lightly sprinkle the entire dough with cinnamon (optional).

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Place the apple slices along the top of the strip, overlapping one another. When done, fold up the lower half of the dough strip and lightly brush with more jam glaze. Carefully roll up the dough to form a flower.

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Place the apple flower tart in greased muffin pan. Repeat with the other dough strips.

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When done, place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for approx. 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

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If you like, sprinkle with confectioner’s icing sugar to garnish. Your Petite Apple Flower Tarts are ready!

Notes on Petite Apple Flower Tarts

1. If feeding a crowd, scale up the recipe.
2. Apricot jam is usually paired with apple pie/tart. You can easily substitute with your favorite jam.
3. In a hurry? Feel free to use a premade, store bought pie crust. Simply roll out the dough and prepare the apple slices and assemble the petite tarts as written in the recipe.

More Flavorful Ideas:

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Planning your holiday table? How about making this gorgeous Festive Butter Bread instead of the regular humdrum rolls? How to Make Festive Butter Bread

Love muffins but not the wheat? Check out how I made these delicious gluten-free chocolate muffins here => How to Make Fabulous Gluten-Free Chocolate Muffins!

This Carrot and Cardamom Cake is simply scrumptious. See how I make it here => How to make Luis Troyano’s Carrot & Cardamom Cake