Stuffed Apple Tart

How to prepare stuffed apple tart

1. Put the butter (cold, from the fridge) and the water for the dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
2. For the dough, put the flour in a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add on top. Using your hands, mix the flour with the butter (don't knead, just mix until the butter is covered with flour). Then take the butter between your fingers (your hands should be cold) and press gently to obtain butter flakes. You don't have to press all the butter, but do this for about 1 minute, until most of the butter is made into flakes. Add the water and mix gently.
3. Put the dough mixture on your work surface. With the heel of your palm, start pressing the mixture, pushing it forward. This maneuver is called "fraisage". It is a technique for mixing flour and butter without kneading, which results in a special texture for the pie dough.
4. When you've finished all the dough, gather it into a mound, and you'll see it's still gritty. This means it needs another round of fraisage. Apply the fraisage technique again on all the dough. Gather it again into a mound, pressing with your hands (but without kneading!) and you'll see it comes together pretty well into a ball shape, although you'll feel it's slightly crumbly. That's okay.
5. Flatten it with your hand into a disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Roll out the piece of dough on a floured surface into a rectangular sheet, not too thin. Fold it in three. Roll again and fold again in three. During these rollings, you'll see the dough isn't very pliable yet, it cracks at the edges, but it's okay, don't despair, with each rolling it will become easier to work with.
   Refrigerate the folded dough for another 30 minutes.
8. Roll out the dough again into a not too thin rectangle. Fold in three. Roll again and fold again in three. Refrigerate until the oven is heated to 220°C.
9. While the dough is cooling and the oven is heating, core the apples (using an apple corer) and then peel them.
10. Grind the walnuts and mix with the drained raisins. Fill the center of the apples with this mixture, pressing to fit as much as possible.
11. Press the butter onto the bottom of an oven-safe pan about 16-18 cm diameter. Sprinkle the sugar and vanilla sugar on top. Place the stuffed apples on top (fit as many apples as the pan holds, even if crowded).
12. Put the pan on low heat and let the apples caramelize until the butter and sugar on the bottom start to boil and foam.
14. Meanwhile, roll out the dough into a thin sheet (about 2-3 mm). Using a plate, cut a circle slightly larger than the pan diameter. My pan was 18 cm diameter, so I cut a 21 cm diameter circle from the dough.
15. Place the dough over the apples and gently push the edges inside.
16. Bake the tart at 220°C for 35 minutes.
17. Remove the tart from the oven, place a plate on top and flip it onto the plate (be careful when doing this not to splash yourself with hot caramel!). Make sure the plate you flip onto is the plate you want to serve on. After flipping, it's harder to move to another plate. Let the tart cool slightly.
18. Prepare the vanilla sauce: mix the Creme Ole powder with the cold milk and beat for several minutes (according to package instructions). Refrigerate until needed.
    * if you want to make homemade vanilla sauce, you can follow a custard recipe
20. Serve the tart warm or cold. When serving, pour the cold vanilla sauce between the apples.

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