crunchy apple crumble tart

I just love Irish expressions. I can’t get enough of them, if I’m honest. The other day, my teacher said no less than 12 times that I was as “good as a goose” during my kitchen work. I was flattered. But I was perhaps even more flattered when I took this bubbling hot, ooey gooey crispy Crunchy Apple Crumble Tart out of the oven, plated a big fat slice for him paired with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and he said, “You must be quite happy with it — I am.” Happiness.

If an apple tart and an apple crumble had a baby, this would be it. In all my years making tart after tart after tart (or as some would say lovingly, taaaaaht), I never thought to marry the two. Genius. (Or as the Irish would say, Grand.) The unmistakeable crunch of the chopped almonds and the sweetness of the vanilla sugar in the crumble topping elevated what was an already solid apple filling and shortcrust pastry bottom to a new level. I don’t usually wax this poetic about a tart (OK, maybe I do, sometimes), but the high you get when you create something magical like this in the middle of a busy kitchen with pans sizzling, saucepans steaming, and whisks bashing around in metal blows is pretty intense. And then when your teacher takes one bite and agrees, success.