Apple and Pear Crumble Tart (Gordon Ramsay)

Here I present this super generous apple and pear crumble tart...
... It is generously made with lots of apples, pears and butter!
... It is generously good with lots of tangy fruity spicy flavours and nutty crumbly texture 

This gorgeous-looking and generous-tasting apple crumble tart is baked using a Gordon Ramsay's recipe. The recipe originally comes from BBC GoodFood but the licence has expired and can't be found in BBC GoodFood anymore. Fortunately, I have printed a copy of this recipe prior to its "disappearance" and managed to bake this beautiful tart. You may also refer to Kitchen Delights who had baked this recipe too.

... It is generously made with lots of butter!!! Yes, it is. This tart is made of 325g of butter. 325g!!! For the fact that it contains about one and a half of typical block of 250g butter all in one narrow 34 cm tart. It sounds kind of scary and guilty to consume even a thin slice of it. I must admit that I was initially put off by this...

After baking and enjoying it (definitely more than a thin slice... Ops!), I begin to fully appreciate Gordon Ramsay's style and approach of baking this tart... This tart consists of four major components: 1) the sweet pastry 2) the almond frangipane 3) the apple and pear filling 4) the buttery nutty crumble. Each of the component is straightforward, simple and easy to make. Most ideally, each is made with fresh seasonal best quality ingredients. To complete, all I did is to stack all four components together. Easy?

Interestingly, all of these ingredients and components are complimenting each other extremely well... resulting this one perfect apple crumble tart. I like to relate its perfectness being a perfect family with harmony, a perfect couple and kids... Kind of impossible? I believe that a good recipe with a good amount of effort can sometimes make anything impossible possible. Surely, life is chaotic but something can be possible... I like to remind myself, "Stay positive, Zoe! Stay positive!!!"

Thanks Gordon Ramsay! I really enjoy your professional way of baking this super generously delicious tart. Now, I really don't mind eating these much butter to enjoy this tart gastronomically.

Apple and Pear Crumble Tart (Gordon Ramsay)

These are all the apples and pears that I used to make this tart.

While baking the pastry, cook the apple and pear filling.

When the pastry is slightly baked, remove the baking beans and do the above...

Add Component Two, the almond frangipane.

Next... Component Three, the apple and pear filling.

Here is Component Four: the buttery nut crumble.

Topping the tart with the crumble mix. Spot the differences! The tart looks the same before and after baking!

Can't wait to enjoy a slice of this!

Every single bit of this is perfetto!

Here's the recipe that I have mostly adapted from BBC GoodFood but the licence of publishing of this recipe has expired.

For the frangipane:
50g butter, soften
50g icing sugar
1 egg
10g flour
50g ground almond

To make the frangipane:

Cream butter and icing sugar together, slowly mix in the egg, flour and ground almonds. Chill for 2 hrs before using.

For the pastry:
250g plain flour
a pinch of salt
125g icing sugar
125g butter, cold
1 egg plus 1 extra egg white
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out

To make the pastry:
Combine flour, salt and icing sugar in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until it forms breadcrumbs.

Briefly beat the whole egg with vanilla seeds. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture. Combine all until the pastry comes together. Cover and chill for at least 2 hrs.

Preheat oven to 180°C (or 160°C fan forced). On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to about 5mm thickness. Line one 11 x 34 x 2.5 cm loose-based fluted tart tin or one 22 cm round loose-based round tart tin with the rolled pastry leaving a little excess overhanging the rim. Line the tart case with baking paper and dried or ceramic baking beans and bake blind for 20-25 mins. Remove the paper and beans and brush the inside of tart case with egg white. Trim off the excess pastry around the rim and bake again for 5-10 mins. Leave to cool slightly.

For the filling:
4 apples, peeled and diced
The original recipe suggests Braeburn but I couldn't find this variety and so I used 2 Granny Smith and 2 Pink Lady.
4 pears peeled and diced, preferably Bosc
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
25g butter
20g brown sugar

To cook the filling:
In a frying pan, melt butter until foaming. Add fruit and toss for 30 sec. Add brown sugar and spices. Toss to combine and cook until fruit is soft but not broken down.

For the crumble:
125g unsalted butter, cold
(original recipe uses 160g butter but I reckon that 125g is sufficient to make the crumble very delicious)
150g plain flour
80g demerara sugar
50g walnut, roughly chopped (or any nuts like hazelnuts or pecans)

To make the crumble:
Rub butter into the flour and stir in demerara sugar and walnuts.

To assemble and bake the tart:
Fill the tart case with the frangipane, then fruit, and top with the crumble mix.

Preheat oven to 180°C (or 160°C fan forced). Bake for 30-35 mins or until golden brown. Leave it to cool slightly for 10-15 mins before removing it from the tin. Leave it to cool completely at room temperature. Serve it with cream or custard or on its own.

Happy Baking
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