Rustic Free-form Apple Tartlets

Total Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (cold)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 -2 tablespoon ice water
• 1 1/4 lbs granny smith apples (about 3 medium)
• 1 1/4 lbs mcintosh apples (about 3 medium)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, from 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 egg whites, beaten lightly

Recipe

• 1 in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, pulse flour, sugar, and salt to combine. add butter and cream cheese; pulse until mixture is sandy, with small, pebblelike curds, 10-12 one-second pulses (mixture should not form cohesive ball). turn mixture into medium bowl.
• 2 sprinkle lemon juice and 1 tablespoons ice water over mixture. with rubber spatula, use folding motion to evenly distribute water and lemon juice into flour mixture until small portion of dough holds together when squeezed in palm of hand, adding up to 1 tablespoons more ice water if necessary. (mixture will look dry even after liquid is incorporated). turn dough clean, dry work sirface; gather and gently press togehter into cohesive ball, then flatten into rough disk. with chef's knife or dough scraper, cut dough into 6 equal pieces, shaping each piece into disk about 3 inches wide. place disk in single layer on flat diner plate, wrap plate in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes (can be refrigerated up to 2 days).
• 3 remove dough from refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 30 minutes, let stand at room temperature until soft and malleable). working one at a time, roll out disks between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment paper into circles approximately 6 inches wide. remove top layer of parchment; trim bottom layer of parchment into rectangles about 2 inches larger than dough. stack rectangles with parchemt on plate; cover plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing fruit.
• 4 adjust one oven rack to highest position and other rack to lowest position; heat oven to 400°f peel, core and cut apples into 1/4 inch thick slices and toss with lemon juice, 1/4 cup sugar, and cinnamon. arrange parchment lined dough rounds in single layer on work surface. arrange about 1 cup apple slices, thick edges out, in circular mound, leaving 1-inch border of dough. fold dough border up over filling, pleating dough to fit snugly around apples. with cupped hands, gently press dough to filling, reinforcing shape and compacting apples. using parchment lining, slide 3 tartlets each of 2 cookie sheets.
• 5 bake tartlets until pale golden brown, about 15 minutes. brush crust with beaten egg whites and sprinkle apples with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. return tartlets to oven, switching position of cookie sheets; bake until crust is deep golden brown and apples are tender, about 15 minutes longer. cool tartlets on cookrei sheets, 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, remove from parchment and transfer to cooling rack. cool additional 5 minutes; serve.