Rustic Pink Granny Tart

That's right, I cut up some pink grannies and made a dessert out of them. Grannies are vegan, right? I almost called this recipe "Roman's Nemesis Tart". He hates apples for some reason. Though he'll drink apple cider, which doesn't really make sense to me. This is one that he didn't taste test for me.

I think I actually made this just so I had an excuse to buy the awesome vegan whipped cream at the market.

I actually love to make apple pies, apple dumplings, apple tarts, etc. I don't make them nearly enough, though because an entire pie is way too much for just one person. A friend of mine has graciously offered to take half of this off of my hands, so excitedly I went to the market and started buying tons of apples. Well, okay, only if 8 is a ton.

Pink Lady apples are my absolute favorites, but I usually make pies and tarts out of Granny Smiths. I decided to mix it up a bit this time. If you've never had a Pink Lady, you are sad inside and don't even know it. Seriously, inside of you is a tiny elf using up all of his hankies. All you have to do to relieve his suffering is eat one of these apples. Now that you know about him, you really should do something about it.

These are sweet and tart like the Granny Smith, but they lean slightly more to the sweet side like the Granny Smith lean slightly more to the tart side. It's a great pairing, especially since I just realized that both kinds of apples have something female in the name. Damn, I even make lesbian desserts. I should get some sort of rainbow star for that or something.

Rustic Pink Granny Tart

crust:
1 1/2 Cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons almond meal (or whatever nut you want to use. Hazelnuts would be best)
1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine (like Earth Balance), chilled and cut into dime sized cube-like pieces
2 Tablespoons molasses or maple syrup
2 Tablespoons hazelnut oil (or just add more butter)
a few Tablespoons water to moisten

filling:
5 apples - use granny smith or pink lady or a combination of the two
4 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon margarine

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, whole wheat flour, ground almonds, ground flax seeds, baking powder and salt. Cut the margarine into the flour using a pastry blender or a large fork. When the mixture starts to form together and make pea-sized clumps, add the molasses and hazelnut oil. Mix it in until it's combined.

You might want to add a bit of water to moisten the dough a bit more. It really depends on what kind of flour you're using if you're going to need to do this step or not. Whole wheat flour is a little bit drier. I think I used 2-3 Tablespoons. Add the water one tablespoon at a time so that you don't add too much.

Form the dough into a disc and put it onto a sheet of parchment paper. Roll it out until it looks like it's big enough to put the apples on and still have some dough left on the edges to fold over.

Cut the apples into pieces and put them in a big bowl. Stir the maple syrup and cinnamon into the bowl until it's all mixed up. Put the apple mixture into the center of your dough. Dot with some margarine and fold up the sides of the dough. Make sure that you leave a hole in the middle, though!

Move the tart and the parchment paper to a cookie sheet or other oven-safe dish. Bake for 35-45 minutes. This will make 8 servings.