Apple fig tart

Yields one 9-inch tart.

• For the dough (quantities adapted from a Tartine bakery’s recipe):
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 50 ml very cold water
  • 75 gr all purpose flour
  • 75 gr pastry flour (or all purpose flour if you don’t have it)
  • 100 gr very cold unsalted butter
• For the filling (adapted from a Tartine bakery’s recipe):
  • 50 gr butter
  • 70 gr sugar
  • 4 large Pink lady apples – peeled, cored, and sliced
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 lemon – peel grated, then juiced
  • 20 gr butter
  • 6 black figs – cut in half
  • 2 oz brandy
  • 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
• Vanilla ice cream

Make the dough: dissolve the salt in the water, then place it in the fridge. Put the flour in a medium bowl. Cut the butter in it in 1-inch pieces. With a pastry blender mix the butter into the flour until it becomes pea-sized. Drizzle in the salted water and mix with a fork. Then mix by hand very fast (to no melt the butter) until it comes together in a ball – you should still see pieces of butter in it. Roll out the ball to a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap it in plastic film and place it in the fridge for 2 hours. After the 2 hours, flour a counter surface, roll out the dough disk to a circle of about 12 inches in diameter. Move it quickly during the roll out to avoid the butter to melt. Place it on a 9-inch pan. Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In the meantime prepare the filling: melt the butter in a skillet over high heat, add the sugar and let it caramelize. Then add the apples and cook them until soft. Transfer the apples to a bowl. Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Let it melt and add the figs. Toss them so they are coated with butter and let them cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the brandy and cook for 1 minute on high heat. Remove the figs and let the brandy cook for another 3 minutes. Keep it aside. Bake the dough: remove the pan from the fridge and cover the dough with parchment paper. Top it with pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the weights and parchment paper and bake for another 3-5 minutes – until light brown. Transfer the shell to a rack to cool down. Fill the tart: form a layer of apples on the bottom of the tart then cover it with another layer if you have any remaining. Place the figs on top. Drizzle with the brandy syrup. Top with powdered sugar. Warm it up in the microwave or oven by the slice and serve it with vanilla ice cream on top.