Dutch Appeltaart

I don’t think there is anything more Dutch than appeltaart. A warm slice with whipped cream and coffee has become so engrained in the Dutch culture that it is available on practically every menu in the country.

No one knows how long the Dutch have been making appeltaart but by 1514 it was already so popular that a recipe for it was published in the very first Dutch cookbook, een notabel boecxken van cokeryen (roughly: a notable little cookery book). Today, there are thousands of recipes for appeltaart and everyone has their favourite. Here I have chosen the recipe from the famous Dudok patisserie in Rotterdam. Despite the fact that they use a crumble top and not the traditional lattice, they won the national AD appeltaarttest in 2005 so you know it must be good.

Unsurprisingly, the most important part of making a good appeltaart is choosing the right apples. You want them to be tart and hard so that they maintain their shape during baking. Ask any Dutch person and they will tell you that the best are the large golden reinette (goudreinette) apples, which have been cultivated in Europe for over 400 years. Unfortunately, they are generally only available between January and April.

If you cannot get golden reinette apples, Elstar or Jonagold are good alternatives. Elstar was developed about 60 years ago in Holland as a cross between golden delicious and the Danish apple Ingrid Marie. Jonagold was developed in the U.S. in the 1940’s and is a cross between golden delicious and Jonathan apples. Both are tart and firm and so will give good results; in this case I used Jonagold.

Dutch Appeltaart Recipe

Notes:

• I like to add a few extra ingredients which I think add more flavour. I have labelled them all as optional so you can leave them out and make the original Dudok recipe if you prefer.  
• You can cut the apples however you like (thin slices or chunky cubes), but it is very important that the pieces are all similar in size for even baking. I normally slice the apple into 5-7 mm thick slices and then cut each of those in half across the middle. 

Ingredients 

For the crust:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 250 g unsalted butter
• 150 g light brown sugar
• ½ tsp. salt

For the filling:

• 1.5 Kg appeltaart apples (see above), peeled and sliced evenly
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 200 g unsweetened applesauce
• 1 ½ Tbsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. each cloves, nutmeg and allspice (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla, rum or almond extract (optional)
• 100 g raisins
• 25 g brown sugar (if the apples are very tart)

For the top:

• 90 g all-purpose flour
• 40 g light brown sugar
• 50 g unsalted butter, cold
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. To make the crust, cream the butter, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Cover with place wrap and let sit in the fridge until cool, about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, grease a 9 in (23 cm) spring form pan.
3. Once cooled and rested, spread the dough over the bottom of the prepared pan by pressing with your hands. Gently press the dough up the sides of the pan as well. Try and spread the dough as evenly as possible to produce a uniform crust. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
4. Preheat the oven the 375°F (190°C).
5. To make the filling, slice the apple and toss in lemon juice. Sauté them briefly in a large frying pan until they just start to soften. Add 1-2 Tbsp. of water if they start to brown.
6. Remove from heat and mix the apples with the apple sauce, cinnamon and other spices, extracts, raisins and brown sugar. Set aside.
7. To make the crumble, combine the flour and cold butter. Mix by hand with a pastry cutter or fork gently but quickly until small crumbles form (do not over mix or it will become dough).
8. Add the brown sugar and mix until just combined.
9. Sprinkle with the vanilla extract and toss to coat. Set aside.
10. Pour the filling  into the crust and press down firmly. Sprinkle the crumble on top.
11. Bake in the middle of the oven for approximately 50 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown. Let the appeltaart cool before removing the spring form edge.
12. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream and coffee. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Taart-Recepten.nl: http://www.taart-recepten.nl/taart/2062/Appeltaart+dudok.html