Toffee Apple Tart with Vanilla Crust

This was one of those happy accidents...I was telling my friend Moira (The Good Egg blogger) about how amazing this dessert was, and she said that I should post it...and we all know that I have been a little remiss about blogging lately, so here it is!

Greg was making dessert for Mother's Day and decided that since we had apples, he would make Jamie Oliver's "Toffee Apple Tart" from his 'Jamie's Dinners' cookbook. Of course he didn't read the instructions properly and took the lids off of the cans of condensed milk and didn't put a lid on the pot of simmering water that they were set in to...so after three hours we had a little bit of toffee, and lots of warm gooey condensed milk (I was ready to just dig in with a spoon, but Greg stopped me...darn!!!) So he went to the Eagle Brand cookbook and combined the two recipes to make ONE FANTASTIC TART!!! Everyone at the table commented on how this was definitely one of Greg's best desserts ever...as I said, a happy accident!!!

GREG'S APPLE TART

Pastry:

1 vanilla bean

5 tbsp butter

1 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

2 cups flour

zest of 1/2 a lemon

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp cold milk

Filling

1 can of condensed milk

4 medium sized apples; peeled, quartered and finely sliced

2 heaping tbsp of powdered sugar

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• Score the vanilla bean down the length of the pod. Scrape the seeds out by using the back of your knife. Cream together the butter, powdered sugar and salt and then rub in the flour, vanilla seeds, lemon zest and egg yolks - you can do this by hand or in a food processor. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk. Pat and gently work the mixture together until you have a ball of dough, then flour it lightly and roll into a large sausage shape (don't work it too much otherwise it will become elastic and chewy!) Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Remove it from the fridge and roll into a tart pan. Place the tart pan and dough in the freezer for an hour.


• Toss the sliced apples with the powdered sugar. Remove the pastry base from the freezer and place the apples on top.


• In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add the condensed milk, eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. Pour mixture over the apples.


• Bake in a 350F oven for 40 minutes.


• ENJOY!!!