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Buttermilk Cream Tart with Apple Roses

Part of the Valentine's Day Workshop Go Back to the Workshop Sign Up for the Workshop Delicate poached apple slices, rolled into blooms, make a showy arrangement atop a cloud of buttermilk cream, all tucked into flaky puff pastry. You can bake the pastry and poach the apple slices a day ahead; refrigerate apples, immersed in poaching liquid. The filling needs thirty minutes to set; spread it on the cooled baked puff pastry, and shape the roses while you wait. This is a good occasion to pass up supermarket puff pastry in favor of an excellent-quality brand that is made with all butter -- and so has a superior flavor. We used Dufour, which is sold in single fourteen-ounce sheets. If you use a brand sold in sheets of two, overlap one-and-a-half sheets to create a rectangle. Brush the overlap with water, then proceed with step one.
Martha Stewart Living, February 2005
  • Yield Makes one tart, serves 6
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Ingredients

  • 1 box (14 ounces) puff pastry, thawed
  • all-purpose flour, for dusting
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • buttermilk cream filling Buttermilk Cream Filling
  • apple roses Apple Roses

Directions

  1. Lay pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Using a pastry wheel or knife, trim pastry into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Then cut off four 1-inch strips: two from one short end and two from one long side. Set strips aside. (Rectangle should be 7 by 10 inches.) Transfer rectangle to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.

  2. Pierce pastry all over with a fork; brush with egg. Lay pastry strips on edges to create a border. Trim strips to fit, overlapping at corners. Brush egg over strips and underneath ends to seal. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.

  3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle pastry with the sugar. Transfer to oven; reduce oven temperature to 350°. Bake until shell is just golden and puffed all over, about 15 minutes. Remove sheet from oven. Using an offset spatula, press down on middle of shell (leave border puffy). Return shell to oven; bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack; press down on middle of shell again. Let cool completely. (The tart shell can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, up to 1 day.)

  4. Pour cream filling into shell. Spread out to border with offset spatula. Refrigerate until filling is set, about 30 minutes.

  5. Arrange roses over filling. Fold leftover peeled-apple slices into ruffles, and fill in gaps. Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, until ready to serve, up to 6 hours.

Recipe Reviews

  • Eanchina
    15 Oct, 2011

    This recipe is fabulous! I have made it twice for a local dessert auction. I subbed Martha's No Bake Cheesecake Filling for the Buttermilk Cream, since I knew the dessert would sit on a table for a couple hours and I wasn't sure the Buttermilk Cream would hold up without 'melting'. I also drizzled a bit of caramel under the Apple Roses. It's so gorgeous and even though it takes most of the day to complete, it's well worth it. The Apple Roses are far easier than they look...

  • hbruchie
    9 Feb, 2009

    Wow a video clip for the flowers would have been great!