Apple Rose Almond Tart

This showstopping apple rose tart is made with a crisp shortcrust pastry, sweet almond pastry filling, and gorgeous apple roses brushed with honey. For your next special occasion or holiday this fall, impress your family and friends with this beautiful and delicious dessert. Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s as satisfying as apple pie.

Looking for more apple recipes? You’ll love these apple spice crumb muffins, caramel apple crumble, and baked apple cider doughnuts.

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Why You’ll Love This Tart

An absolute showstopper. Everyone will be so wowed by the beautiful apple roses, that they’ll know the work you put in to make this dessert.

Perfect fall flavors. With the buttery, cookie-like crust, the sweet almond filling and the tart apples, this apple rose tart is everything good about fall baking.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Crust

• Shortcrust Pastry. I have a step-by-step post on making shortcrust pastry, so be sure to give it a read. It’s quick and easy to make, and you can simply press the dough crumbs into the pan if you don’t want to roll out the tart dough. The crust is crisp, buttery and cookie-like.

Filling

• Almond Pastry Filling. Not to be confused with almond paste, almond pastry filling is a sweet, spreadable filling made of sugar, water and almonds, along with a few other ingredients. I’ve had trouble finding it at my grocery store lately, but it’s available on Amazon. The sweetness is a nice contrast to the tart apples, which are barely sweetened.

Apples

• Apples. Be sure to choose apples with a pink or red peel, that hold their shape when they bake, since you don’t want the apples to fall apart.
• Water + Sugar + Lemon Juice. To soften the apples, you’ll be briefly warming them in a mixture of water, sugar (to sweeten them a little), and lemon juice (to prevent browning).
• Honey. After baking the tart, brushing the apples with a little honey adds sweetness and a pretty shine.

Instructions

Crust

• Prepare and blind-bake the Shortcrust Pastry as instructed in this post.
• Set aside to cool slightly.

Filling

• Spread the almond pastry filling in an even layer in the baked crust.
• You won’t use the whole can of almond pastry filling, so you can save what’s left for another recipe.

Apples

• For the apples, choose a variety with a pink or red peel. You won’t be peeling the apples, and the color of the peel adds more dimension to the color of the roses.
• In a large, microwavable bowl, stir together the water, sugar and lemon juice.
• Quarter the apples and remove the cores. Thinly slice the apples, either with a knife or a mandolin, slicing them as thin as you can, and place the apple slices in the bowl of water.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, until the apples are softened and pliable.
• Use a slotted spoon to transfer some of the apples to a cutting board or work surface. Overlap 4-5 apple slices, and roll them up to look like a rose. Place the rose in the tart, on top of the almond pastry filling. To make the rose bigger, place a few more apple slices around the rose. Continue making roses, until the tart is full. Fill any gaps with additional apple slices.

Bake

• Preheat the oven to 375 F. Set the tart on a baking sheet, and bake for about 40 minutes, covering the edge with a pie crust shield if it’s getting too brown.
• Remove from the oven and use a pastry brush to brush the honey over the apples.
• Let cool for about an hour, and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is almond pastry filling the same thing as almond paste?

No, these are very different ingredients, and they’re not interchangeable. Almond pastry filling is spreadable, like jam, while almond paste is stiff and crumbly.

What can I substitute for the almond pastry filling?

Frangipane would be a very good substitute for the almond pastry filling. And if you have a nut allergy, many recipes for apple tarts use a layer of vanilla custard under the apples, to hold them in place.

What kind of apples should I use for the apple roses?

Choose an apple with a pink or red peel, that holds its shape well when baked. I used Honeycrisp apples in my tart, which has a blend of red and green in its peel, looking quite pretty in the baked tart.

Do the apples need to be peeled?

Normally, I would always peel apples for a pie or tart. But for the apple roses, the peel on the edge makes them prettier with a pop of color, so you should leave them unpeeled.

Is there a substitute for the honey?

Instead brushing honey over the baked apple roses, you can use apple jelly. Just warm the jelly so that it turns to liquid, and can easily be brushed over the apples.

Should this tart be served warm or cold?

I think it’s best served warm from the oven, having cooled for about an hour. But it’s also delicious at room temperature.

How long does the tart stay fresh?

Loosely cover the leftover tart and keep refrigerated for up to 2 days.

TIP: For a simpler apple rose tart design that takes less time to prep, try this design by Style Sweet. It’s equally stunning, and much quicker to put together.

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