When I attended culinary school we used to make this delicious apple tart with a rich almond cream filling and caramelized apples. This recipe was inspired by that delectable tart - without all the eggs, butter and sugar! After some careful tweaking, my naturally sweetened, vegan version tastes as good, if not better than the original! And also, it is much, much lower in fat.
The virgin coconut oil gives everything a nice buttery flavor - People just could not believe that there was no butter in here! The apples are perfectly sweet and tender and the almond filling is deliciously creamy and not too sweet. This is without a doubt, my absolute favorite apple dessert.
I use an 8 inch cake ring here, but I'm sure any 8 inch cake pan will work just fine. I know this recipe seems like a lot of work, but trust me, it's worth it!
- 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp rice or coconut milk
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
- 2-1/2 tbsp maple sugar
- 2 tbsp virgin coconut oil
- 6 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 2 tbsp agave
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Vanilla Almond milk
- 1/3 cup raw Almonds, ground (Place in a dry food processor and blend to a powder)
- 1 tbsp Virgin Coconut oil
- 1-1/2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1/4 cup Coconut milk
- 2 tbsp pure Maple syrup
- 1-1/2 tbsp Apple juice concentrate, thawed (optional)
- Grease and Flour an 8 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Preheat oven to 350 F.
- To make the Tart Dough: Place flours and maple sugar in a food processor and blend. Add coconut oil and process until mixture has the sandy consistency of cornmeal. Add vinegar and milk and process until dough balls up a little.
- Place dough between 2 pieces of wax paper and roll out to 1/4-1/8 inch thickness. Very gently transfer it to your prepared pan. If some of the dough rips or breaks off, not a big deal; just press it back into the pan. With a fork, poke holes on the bottom of the crust. Set aside at room temperature.
- For the Apples: Heat the coconut oil and Agave in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add Apples and cook, stirring every so often until softened but not mushy. Set aside to cool.
- For the Almond filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut and almond milk, oil, maple syrup, ground almonds, vanilla and cornstarch.
- To assemble the tart: Pour the almond filling in the pie shell and arrange the apple slices on top in an attractive fashion (see photo above). Bake for 35 minutes.
- Let cool at least 30 minutes before cutting into it. It tastes wonderful cold too. Right before you serve it brush the apple juice concentrate over the apples to give them a nice sheen, if desired.