When the Rabbi calls, you pick up the phone. It’s just an unspoken rule. The other day it was the Rebbezin (his wife), asking if I’d participate in a cooking demonstration via Zoom. I’ve shied away from Zoom presentations, but it’s hard to say “no” to the Rabbi or his wife. So I agreed, and we decided I would demonstrate my apple tart – using a dairy-free dough (for reasons I will explain below). When baking, I never have substituted butter.
I seriously lost sleep over making dairy-free dough. (I know there are more important things to lose sleep over but I am who I am.)
Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year occurs in the fall. It’s a joyous holiday, celebrating the creation of the world, along with serious reflection. We eat lots (and lots) of special foods to symbolize the hope for a sweet New Year.
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Dipping apples in honey is a tradition to symbolize sweetness while reciting a special blessing. For our family meal, I always make an apple tart with a honey glaze on top.
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Keeping Kosher is a dietary standard of Jewish law. It’s a bit complicated but one of the basic elements is not eating meat and dairy in the same meal. Typically for Jewish holidays we cook brisket or chicken. Hence, the butter dilemma. Happily, I found a great substitute and so here is a recipe that I hope works for everyone (well not gluten-free but I have a post on a gluten-free crust found here). Vegans, however, will love this crust! Using honey is debatable apparently, but I can’t even go there because I’ll lose another night’s sleep.
I used Earth Balance non-dairy butter and was extremely happy with the results (and I think Alice Water’s would be too, this is her original recipe). If you want to use butter, by all means, do! As for the apples, I use a variety, but always include a few Granny Smith’s as they are known to be the best to bake with and pair well with any of the others. This elegant dessert is perfectly suitable for any occasion, from a family weeknight meal to your Thanksgiving table. Be sure to serve the apple tart with a big bowl of whipped cream, or rather tofu cream to keep it kosher, and a dusting of cinnamon.
Ingredients
Serves 8
Dough
- 1 C all purpose flour
- 1/2 t sugar
- 1/8 t salt
- 6 T (or 85 grams) non dairy butter, I like Earth Balance, cut in 1/2” pieces
- 3 T chilled water (or more if using real butter)
Filling
- 2 pounds of apples (any firm variety that includes a few Granny Smith)
- 4 T sugar
- 2 T olive oil (approx.)
Glaze
- 1/4 C sugar
- 1/4 C honey
Instructions
- For the dough, mix flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or your fingers, mix in vegan butter until the dough until combined. Use your fingers to flatten and break up any large pieces, but you still want to see bits of the vegan butter throughout.
- Dribble in water a little bit at a time using your hands to combine, adding more until the dough comes together. You want to see flecks of butter, so don’t work it too much.
- Form into a ball, flatten to a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 1 day ahead.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel and core the apples (saving them for the syrup) and slicing the apples into thin pieces.
- Roll out dough to approx 14” and place in a 9” tart pan (if you don’t have one, no problem, make a galette by placing the dough directly on a baking sheet lined with parchment), leaving an overhang.
- Arrange apple slices in the center (leaving a 2” border if making a galette). Use all the apples as the they reduce while baking, so don’t be shy! Fold the dough back onto itself t 1-inch intervals.
- Brush olive oil (or dot with butter if going that route) over the apples and sprinkle all over with the sugar. Place the tart on a baking sheet (if using a tart pan).
- Place in the middle of the oven and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes until the apples are caramelized and the crust is a golden brown
- While the tart is baking, place the apple peels, cores, sugar, honey and just enough water to cover the apples in a small pot. Bring to a simmer and reduce until it becomes thicker-approx. 25 min. Strain and set aside.
- Remove tart from oven. Let cool for 15 minutes and brush glaze over the top.
- Serve immediately or at room temperature.
Enjoy!
This looks delish. I forwarded to my niece who is vegan. She is going to be so excited!!
Author
This makes me so happy! Thank you Traci.
what a fun post!!!
Author
Thank you Tracy.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! It will be a great option for my vegan niece and kosher sister for Thanksgiving! Love your blog post, Polly Ruth!
Author
Let me know how they like it!
Thank you Polly…This made me want to try something different!!Great pictures! Love this post! Happy Rosh Hashanah
Author
Thanks so much Alicia!