French Southwestern Apple Croustade

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Being in the Fall season gave me the desire to make this French Southwestern Apple Croustade that my mother-in-law showed me how to make when she came to visit us in Atlanta.

Croustade is a popular dessert in Southwestern France. Depending on the area, the recipe and the name (called Croustade, Pastis Gascon, or Tourtière) vary. Sometimes, it is made with a homemade puff pastry, pâte brisée, or stretched dough (similar to phyllo dough). The croustade generally has a round shape and is filled with apples marinated in Armagnac alcohol.

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The French Southwestern Apple Croustade recipe that I am giving you is very local since it is a family recipe. The dough uses basic ingredients such as eggs, butter, milk, and sugar. Then, it is stretched very finely into a rectangle. The apples marinate in rum, with sugar, and are then drained. Halfway through the cooking, we brush the dough with the drained apple juice. This gives a nice flavor and a caramelized color to the dough.

OTHER RECIPES WITH APPLE YOU MIGHT LIKE:

• Kefir Olive Oil Cake with Apples and Raisins
• Aunt Janine’s Apple Cake
• Sheet Pan Mustard Chicken with Potatoes, Apples, and Cranberries
• French Apple Tart
• Apple Yogurt Cake

French Southwestern Apple Croustade

Made with a very thin crust and filled with apples marinated in rum. This dessert is right on time for Thanksgiving!

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Resting time: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

To make the dough:

• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 3 tbsp sugar I reduced the sugar to 1 tbsp
• 1 pinch salt
• 180 g flour(*) or more (see the recipe note)

Filling croustade:

• 5 apples (gala, golden delicious, honey crisp, fuji…) peeled and cored, sliced into ⅛' thick slices
• 2 tbsp rum I put 3 tbsp
• sugar to put by layer

For the topping:

• 1 egg with a little bit of water
• sugar

Instructions

To make the dough:

• In a medium bowl, whisk the one egg, the milk, the melted butter, and the sugar together. Then, gradually add the flour (* see the recipe note) and knead the dough, by hand, until it is smooth and not too sticky. Let the dough rest in a bowl, covered with a kitchen towel, at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
  

Filling:

• Take one apple, peel it, and remove the core. Then slice it into ⅛' thick slices.
  
• Put the apple in a medium bowl and sprinkle it with a little bit of sugar. Repeat this process with each of the apples. Afterward, add the 3 tbsp of rum. Mix gently, cover the bowl with a plate, and set it aside.
  

To assemble:

• Preheat the oven to 360 F.
• Take a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper. Set this aside.
• Split the dough in half.
• Dust lightly your working surface and your rolling pin with flour. Roll out the first half of the dough as thin as possible in a rectangle shape (it does not need to be perfect, just be careful that the shape can fit in the baking sheet). Add flour when needed to prevent sticking.
• Roll lightly and carefully put the dough around your rolling pin. Unroll it over the top of your baking sheet. Roll the second half of dough approximately like the first half shape and leave it on your working surface.
  
• Drain the apple slices, but keep the juice in a bowl to use later in the recipe. On the first half of the dough, put the drained apples. Leave space at the borders, about 1 inch.
  
• Roll the second part of the dough like the first part and carefully put it around your rolling pin. Cover the apples with the second part of the dough. Fold the edges of the first dough over the second dough and press lightly to seal it.
• In a small bowl, mix the egg with a little bit of water and brush all of the croustade evenly. Sprinkle sugar over it.
  
• Bake for about 45 to 50 mn or until the croustade is golden. Halfway through the baking, brush the rum and drained apple juice over the top. Avoid the edges, so the juice doesn't caramelize onto the parchment paper. If it does, the croustade will be difficult to take off the parchment paper.
• When the croustade is done, slide a thin spatula or knife all along the croustade to be sure that nothing sticks to the parchment paper. Eat the croustade when it is lukewarm or room temperature.

Notes

(*) In the original recipe, my mother in law did not give me a specific quantity for the flour. She just told me that you need to add roughly some flour until the dough is smooth and not too sticky.

I will advise you to put about 200 g of flour in a bowl and add gradually the flour during the kneading by hand until the dough is smooth and not too sticky. In my case, I did not use at the end all the quantity of flour that I put in the bowl only 180 g. Feel free to add a little more if needed.

This post is also available in: Français