Snacking on slices of apple and cheese is a classic pairing for taking the edge off between meals. The combination of the apple’s sweet and tart flavor with the saltiness of the cheese gets all our taste buds humming. But have you ever thought of pairing them cooked? Turns out, their chemistry when warm and gooey is as underrated as it is satisfying.
When you’re in the mood for a savory-sweet treat, this New England and Midwestern tradition of pairing apple pie with a slice of sharp cheddar is a delicious way to curb your craving. While there are still some nice and crisp local apples from this past season available in the Northeast, I’ve decided to stretch my fall baking into winter with this unique recipe for cinnamon-apple tarts with sharp cheddar and spiced honey.
The crust – which you fully bake before adding the filling – gets a nice nuttiness from adding a little bit of either almond or hazelnut flour. The diced apples are quickly sautéed in butter, sugar and cinnamon to preserve a crunchy bite.
Squares of sharp cheddar top the still warm apples before going under the broiler for a quick melt.
In the meantime, gently heat honey with some lemon juice and a dried chili and serve alongside the warm and gooey apple tarts. The sweet and spicy honey is absolutely superb drizzled on top, punching out the flavors and placing this dessert into the ‘mostly sweet, a little savory’ category.
Think of it as a novel way to indulge in your favorite cheese board, with your cheese, fruits, nuts and condiments all merged together in perfect harmony.
You’ll realize cheese is the dairy your apple pie had been missing all this time and you’ll be reaching for the cheddar (or why not Gruyere, gouda, Roquefort?) before the ice cream…
| Cook Time: | 20 min |
| Total Time: | 180 min |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Yield: | 8 |
2. Get the dough out of the refrigerator and roll out to a thickness of 5mm. Line 8 individual tart pans with the dough, cutting out excess. Refrigerate the tart pans.
3. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and bake the tart crusts around 15 minutes, until nice and golden. Let them cool completely.
4. In a large pan, melt the butter over high heat and quickly sautéed the apples with the sugar and cinnamon until cooked but with a crunchy bite left - just a few minutes.
5. Fill in the tart pans with the apple mixture. Add a cube of cheddar on top of each tart and place under the broiler until the cheese has melted.
6. In a small saucepan, heat the honey, lemon juice and dried chili gently for 5 minutes. Strain to remove the chili.
7. Serve the apple tarts warm with the spiced honey.
200g all-purpose flour
130g softened butter
90g powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
60g almond or hazelnut flour
3g fine sea salt
Filling:
6 Golden Delicious apples, diced into 1/4 inch cubes, unpeeled
3 cinnamon sticks
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
50g granulated sugar
8 x 20g cubes of sharp cheddar
Spiced Honey:
1 cup of honey
Juice from one lemon
1 dried chili
