Kiwi Tart

Can you believe there is NOT ONE SINGLE kiwi tart recipe out there on the entire world wide web ?!?! (go do your search and come back when you are done if you do not believe me)
I bought 3 kiwi fruits thinking of a kiwi tart, maybe combined with apples or just on their own and wanted to make it somewhat diet - y which is exactly what I ended up doing.
It all began with my French Apple Tart which was oh-so-good-I-ate-half-in-one-sitting and it turned out to be really good.


Ingredients:

For the Crust:

- 2 cups flour

- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

- 1 TBSP sugar

- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, diced

- 1/2 cup ice water

For the Topping:
- 1/3 cup splenda
- 3 kiwi fruits, cut 1/8 inch thick
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cut 1/8 inch thick

For the Glaze:
- 1/2 cup orange reduction (or apricot jelly) combined with 2 TBSP Grand Marnier or you can just omit the alcohol, heated up just before glazing the tart
- 3 to 5 TBSP butter, to dot the tart at the end, if you wish (I did not use it as I was trying to cut down on the calories)

Directions:

To make pastry, place flour, salt and sugar in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add butter and pulse 10 to 12 times or until butter is pea-sized. With motor running, pour ice water down feed tube and pulse just until dough starts to come together. Dump onto floured board. Knead quickly into ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside or just tear a long sheet of aluminum foil, grease it a bit and then roll your tart crust directly onto it making sure you leave edges uncovered so you can lift them and make them look like rims.

This tart seems to have a tendency of being syrupy.

Roll dough slightly larger than 10 by 14 inches. Place dough on prepared sheet pan or just pick up the aluminum "boat" and place it carefuly on the baking sheet. Refrigerate while preparing apples and kiwi fruits. You do not want to work on the apples before you are done with the crust because they will oxidize (turn brown).

Start with the kiwis by washing, peeling and cutting them 1/8 inch thick. Peel apples. Cut in half through stem. Using sharp knife and melon baller, remove stems and cores. Slice apples crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

Place overlapping slices of apples along with the cut kiwi fruits alternating rows on the tart. Make diagonal rows on both sides of first row until pastry is covered with apple slices.

Sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar or splenda. Dot with butter if using.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until pastry is browned and edges of apples start to brown. Rotate pan once during cooking.

To glaze: Heat orange reduction or apricot jelly (I do that in the microwave). Brush over apples, kiwis and pastry. Using metal spatula, loosen tart so it doesn't stick to paper or aluminum foil. Cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This my own unique adaptation of the French Apple Tart and if making it, keep in mind that kiwis are maybe as tart as a lemon so you could probably increase the amount of sugar or splenda without over-sweetening the tart.

My thoughts on the initial French Apple Tart were:

- well worth the effort put into making it
- try this tart crust she gives the recipe for
- substitute the sugar with splenda
- cut the apples to 1/8 inch thickness as 1/4 is a bit too thick (or maybe it's just me ?)
- keep the dough in the fridge while working on the apples
- you don't need to start layering he aples on the diagonal, you can do it any way you want as it is YOUR tart
- choose a pan with rims so the juices that the apples produce do not end up spilling and smoking in the oven
- try half the recipe to begin with so you do not have too much left over OR you do not end up eating all that yummy tart all by yourself in one sitting (yes, it's THAT good)
- use Granny Smith apples
- use a silpat or parchment paper so you don't end up scraping it off the bottom of the pan
- make it look pretty as the visual effect has a lot to do with liking a dish
- I did not want to use apricot jam and used my Orange Reduction that I heated up in the microwave and brushed it over with a silicone pastry brush
- keeps well in the fridge and heats well in the toaster oven
- I will make it again, but not too soon as it has butter in it and butter means cholesterol
- watch it closely so it does not burn
- the more browned and crisp the crust gets, the better it will taste.

I really hope you give this a try and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.