Tarte vigneronne

A slice of tarte vigneronne.

Tarte vigneronne ('winemaker tart') is a simple thin apple tart [link], with a twist made popular in the Chinon wine region. The apple tart glazed with red wine jelly was invented by Patisserie Ayrole in Chinon and the name tarte du vigneron registered in 1994.

Ready for the oven.

The apple variety used is often Reinette grise du Canada or Golden Delicious. Sometimes there is a thin layer of apple sauce spread on the pastry before the slices of apple go on. The wine jelly can also be used with foie gras or poached pears. 

Just out of the oven.

 

Ingredients

A bottle of light fruity red wine

500 g jam sugar

A packet of ready made puff pastry (which in France comes ready rolled into a 25 cm diameter circle)

About 50 g butter, melted

About 2-3 tbsp raw sugar (called cassonade or sucre roux in France)

1/2 cup apple sauce (optional)

A pinch of ground cinnamon

3-4 apples

Method

1. Sterilise 3-4 jam jars (run them through the dishwasher or heat them up on low heat in the oven for half an hour).
   
2. Put the wine and jam sugar into a boiler, stir and bring to the boil. Make sure the sugar is dissolved in the wine. Follow the instructions on the jam sugar packet for how long to boil.  Don't be tempted to boil as long and hard as you would for fruit jam made with regular sugar -- you will end up with wine rubber.
3. Ladle the hot jelly into the prepared jars and put the lids on (use a cloth to handle the hot jars).
   
4. Leave the jelly to cool.
5. Heat the oven to 180C.
   
6. Roll the pastry out to a 25 cm circle if necessary (or just unwrap and unroll if French).
7. Lay it out on a silicone mat or sheet of baking paper and brush with some melted butter, then sprinkle with raw sugar.
8. Turn the pastry over and brush the other side with melted butter, then sprinkle with raw sugar.
9. Spread the pastry with apple sauce if using, leaving a margin of a couple of centimetres around the edge.
10. Peel, core and slice the apples into thin wedges.
    
11. Arrange the apple slices attractively on the apple sauce, leaving a margin around the edge of the pastry.
    
12. Mix a pinch of ground cinnamon into a tablespoon of raw sugar and sprinkle over the apples.
13. Bake for 40 minutes.
14. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of the red wine jelly and brush it all over the top of the tart.
15. Serves 8.
    

Glazed and finished.

Yum

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