Apple Brioche Tartlets:

Equipment: 6 Baking rings sized 8cm (d) x 3cm (h), evenly spaced on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Recipe: 6 Brioche Tartlets

Brioche Dough (about 400g):

Pastry Cream:

For the caramelized apples:

Soaked Apples:

Preparation instructions:

Pastry Cream:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together 33g of the milk and cornstarch, until smooth and without any lumps. Add the eggs and whisk thoroughly to combine.
2. In a saucepan, over medium heat, cook the remaining 100g of the milk with the sugar, and bring it to a simmer.
3. Gradually temper the eggs mixture with the hot milk.
4. Transfer the tempered mixture back into the saucepan, through a strainer to capture any cooked egg bits.
5. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the cream is thickly bubbling.
6. Take the saucepan off the heat and add the butter and vanilla extract. Whisk well and transfer the cream to a clean bowl.
7. Attach a plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream and allow it to cool down at room temperature for 1 hour. Then refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or preferably, overnight).

For the caramelized apples:

1. In a saucepan, over medium heat, cook together the cubed apples, butter, cinnamon and sugar for 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Add in the lemon juice and stir- keep cooking for about 1 more minute.
3. Remove from heat and let cool down completely. After the mixture has cooled down, drain the apple cubes from their liquids into a separate bowl (do not discard those liquids!) and set to the side until use.

For the soaked apples:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the boiling water and sugar until the sugar completely dissolves.
2. Soak the sliced apples in the syrup until use. The apples will soften and that’s ok (you can set the bowl to the side, cover in plastic wrap).

For the Brioche Dough:

Important note: brioche dough is very sticky and hard to work with as soon as it is done kneading. Therefore, it requires a long fermentation, preferably in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to overnight (most recommended). Please take this into consideration when making your baking plans.

1. Into a standing mixer bowl fitted with the dough hook attachment, add all of the dough’s ingredients, except for the butter cubes. Mix on low speed for a few minutes until a lump of dough is formed.
2. Add the butter gradually, a few cubes at a time, waiting until the first cubes are incorporated before adding the next ones. After all the butter is added, continue kneading for 10 minutes on low-medium speed, until the dough pulls away cleanly from the bowl.
3. With oiled hands, divide the dough into two parts: 325g (for the crust) and 75g (for the lids).
4. Cover both dough parts with plastic wrap and ferment overnight in the fridge.

Assembly and baking:

1. For the crust: over a lightly floured counter, roll the 325g dough part to a large and very thin sheet, so it is about 1mm thick. Cut out 6 pieces x 15 cm circles. In case you did not manage to extract 6 pieces the first time around: any leftover dough can be gathered into a dough ball. However, it must rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before it can be re-rolled thinly again without resisting too much.
2. All round circles should be placed on a try and kept refrigerated while you keep working on the rest of the dough.
3. For the lids: roll the 75g part very thinly so it is about 1mm thick. Cut out 6 pieces x 8 cm circles.
4. Refrigerate these pieces as well while you keep working.
5. Into non lined baking rings (8cm [d] x 3cm [h]), spaced evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place the larger circles and fit them so the sides will reach down all the way to the bottom. Do this step very carefully as to avoid tearing down the dough, but still securing it tightly to the baking ring. Freeze the shells for about 15 minutes. Then, prick the bottom with a fork.
6. Preheat the oven to 180C (fan mode off) setting a baking rack at the lowest level in the oven.
7. Transfer the cooled down pastry cream into a piping bag and cut a 1cm hole in it. Pipe about 30g of pastry cream to the bottom of the tartlets.
8. Cover the cream with about 35g of the cooked apples (without juices). Then add about 1 tbsp of the juices into each tartlet.
9. Cover each tartlet with the smaller dough circles (the lids, kept in the refrigerator) and tighten them to the tartlet walls.
10. Carefully prick the lids with a fork and place an apple slice on top of each tartlet (the apples which were soaked in the simple syrup).
11. There is no need to further proof the tartlets before baking. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Brush the apple slices with some of the soaking sugar syrup to retain shine and moisture.