Normandy is well known for its apples and the various things the Normans do with apples, e.g. cider, calvados and of course the Normandy apple tart.

Having once been a typical Normandy small holding, Basse Copette has a small but very useful collection of apple trees. The types of apple trees planted are evidence of age-old gardening principles, the type one now hears being encouraged on gardening programmes. The first apples start to ripen towards the end of July, and apples are ripening all the way through to early December. If these are wrapped and stored carefully I can have fresh apples all the way through until January the following year.

One of the local treats I provide for self catering guests on their arrival is a Normandy apple tart, and am frequently making these for B&B guests as well. As I am often asked for the recipe I thought I would post it here.

Basse Copette apple, morning dew fresh

• 3 or 4 apples – cubed or cut into segments
• 200ml cream
• 1 cup of sugar
• vanilla essence
• 2 medium sized eggs

Turn oven to 200 C

Line a 12 inch tart tin, about an inch and a half deep, with puff pastry (I use ready made pastry). Then add the cubbed apples, or arrange the segments decoratively. Sprinkle these with cinnamon and/or ground nutmeg.

Mix the cream, sugar, vanilla, eggs until smooth. Pour this mixture gently over the apples, and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. The tart is cook when the custard is firm. Take the tart out of the oven, and evenly poor some caramel over the custard.

A note on which apples to use: if using soft apples (like golden delicious) there is no need to cook the apples. If using harder apples, these might need to be cooked off a bit first. In which case lightly fry the apple pieces in some butter (you can add a bit of calvados for extra flavour), and then let them cool before adding to the pastry.

The apple orchard at Basse Copette