I have a small apple tree in my garden. It did not produce any apples last year, and apparently, it needs another tree to fertilise it.

This year to my surprise, it has given me 18 apples, so perhaps a friendly bumblebee fertilised it. The apples are of a small variety, Egremont Russet, and deliciously crisp, nutty and sweet. These or any other delicious apples will work for this recipe.

Butter puff pastry forms the base of my Nordic Tarte aux Pommes, and here I used a readymade sheet. Although I love making my own pastry, this is not where I would choose to spend my time or effort on this recipe.

Instead, I made a homemade apple compote, which adds richness and juiciness underneath the thinly sliced apple layer. I also basted the apples with butter several times while cooking in the oven.

For the Nordic touch, I added plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Serves: 6-8    Total time: 1 h

INGREDIENTS

8 small apples or 5 large
1 butter puff pastry sheet
Sugar 40-50 ml (35-40 g)
Salted butter 50 g
Juice from 1 lemon
1 egg
Cinnamon 1 tsp
Sprinkle of nutmeg
Whipping cream to serve

APPLE COMPOTE
Apple cut-offs (approximately 1 large apple)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan165°C/360F/gas 4

2. Peel the apples and remove the cores. Slice the apples thinly by hand or with a mandoline slicer. Do not worry if they go brown quickly. Reserve the offcuts or any small slices of apple for the apple compote. You only want the medium and large slices for the layers on top of the tart, but want to make sure you use all the apple.

3. In a salad bowl, let the apple slices rest in the lemon juice while making the apple sauce.

4. For the compote, add 4 tablespoons of water and the reserved apple to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, add the cinnamon and nutmeg, lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until soft enough to mash. If the apples dry up before ready, add more water. Crush the apples with a fork and let the compote cool down.

5. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan and beat the egg.

6. Take out the puff pastry sheet from the fridge. The pastry will go soft quickly, so refrigerate until preparing. Unroll the pastry so that it rests flat on the paper. With the back of a knife, score a 2 cm border, which will puff up in the oven. Prick the pastry inside of the border with a fork.

7. Spread the apple compote evenly to the border and garnish with a layer of overlapping apple slices. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tsp of cinnamon, nutmeg and a third of the sugar. Brush the apple slices with the melted butter and the border with the beaten egg.

8. Transfer the baking paper with the tart to an oven dish and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Baste at least twice with sugar and melted butter.

9. Let the tart cool down before serving with whipped cream.