Recipes

 Chosen from Annie Bell’s Gorgeous Desserts

For the Walnut pastry

    175g unsalted butter, diced
    75g golden caster sugar
    150g plain flour
    1 tsp baking powder, sifted
    100g walnut pieces
    2 medium egg yolks

For the Mincemeat topping

    Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
    400g mincemeat
    3 eating apples, peeled, cored and finely sliced into rings
    50g unsalted butter
    3 tsp golden caster sugar
    50g apricot jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 6 and butter a 30 x 23 x 4cm baking tin.

To make the walnut pastry, whizz the butter, sugar, flour and baking powder and walnuts in a food processor until the mixture starts to cling together, then add the egg yolks and continue to process to a sticky dough. Press this into the base of the cake tin, laying a sheet of clingfilm over the top and smoothing it with your fingers, then remove it. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden and risen.

Stir the lemon zest into the mincemeat in a bowl, then smooth it over the base as evenly as possible; you may have small gaps here and there depending on the texture of the mincemeat. Lay the apple slices lengthwise in three overlapping rows, discarding the bottom slice, then dot with the butter and scatter over the sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges of the apple have begun to colour. Remove and run a knife around the edge of the tart then leave it to cool completely. Gently warm the jam, press it through a sieve and lightly brush the apple slices to glaze them, then leave to set.

Cut the tart into about 12 squares using a bread knife. You can either store it in a tin, covering it with clingfilm, or transfer the slices to an airtight container. They should keep well for several days.

Check out our Little Green Book on Apples for where to buy apples, juices, cider and more...