German Apple Tart – Better than a Pie

The French are known to be the masters of making tarts but they are not the only ones. I had many apples and 1 pie crust left over so I decided to create a tart that can compete with the French apple tarts. The result should be a thin crust covered with a spicy and moist apple topping with a tiny crunch. The result was exactly that!
This German apple tart is delightful! It takes about 30 min of your time to make it and 15 min in the oven. Warning: It’s less sweet than any other apple tarts but that sweetness is compensated by the natural apple and spice flavor.

When it comes to crusts you can of course make your own crust – Find the Cake Crust Recipe here (we call it Mürbeteig in German) – or use the ones already made. I found a really good crust at the local Kroeger’s.  It’s organic and super thin, contains no sugar. Ideal for a tart or pie. Trader Joe’s has a good frozen crust as well. But my favorite is the Kroeger crust because it is so thin. I also used organic ingredients for this tart. Especially the cornstarch. I never use regular cornstarch for cooking and baking because of the GMO component. Happy Baking!

Ingredients German Apple Tart

1 unbaked pie crust, organic, 9 inches
5-6 apples (medium) or 3 apples and 2 ripe pears
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp organic lemon flavor (see below)
1 cup of water
1/2 cup sugar
1 package vanilla sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp cornstarch, organic, Non-GMO
1 tbsp cinnamon
to taste: pumpkin spice or all spice, nutmeg
1 hand full chopped walnuts
2 tbsp almond flour and 3 tbsp raisins (optional)

Baking Instructions German Apple Tart

– Remove crust from package and plastic, let sit on counter for at least 20 min before you can unroll it. Check instructions on the box.
– Peel apples, remove core, cut in 1 inch thick pieces.
– Place apples in a pan, add water, lemon juice and flavor. You can use 1 lemon and use the zest and juice alternatively.
– Mix sugar, starch, spices. Add to the apples.
– Bring apple mix to a boil, it should have thickened, if not add more cornstarch dissolved in cold water.
– Let simmer for 4-5 min. Apple pieces should be soft. Let cool off a bit.

– Meanwhile unroll crust and place it in a very good greased pie form, 9 inches. Gently press dough around the rim.
Stab the bottom of the pie with a fork all over.
– With a ladle place the apple pieces on the crust, if there is too much liquid left, don’t use it. The amount of liquid depends on the kind of apples as well.
– Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
– Sprinkle walnuts and almonds on top of apples.
– Bake for 15 minutes – watch the crust. It should not get too brown!

Let cool off completely before serving with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream.