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These apple custard tarts are easily baked with store-bought puff pastry and are drizzled with a delicious chai spice-infused custard sauce. They make a wonderful winter afternoon treat to eat in front of a warm and comforting fireplace.
The first snow of the season arrived up here in the mountains a few days ago. We made a big, roaring fire in the fireplace and I felt like making a warm dessert to eat while watching the snowflakes fall. That’s how I came up with these delicious chai apple custard tarts.
How to make chai apple custard tarts:
The custard sauce for this recipe is based on my bruleed chai-spiced pots de creme but instead of pots de creme-ing the custard, you cook it on the stovetop to turn it into a sauce. It’s quite easy to do, you just infuse a mix of 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 6 tablespoons granulated sugar with 1 cinnamon stick, 5 whole cloves, 1 thinly sliced half-inch piece of ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds and 1 teaspoon black pepper corns. Then you whisk the mix into 6 egg yolks and cook the custard until it thickens.
The sauce goes perfectly with the flaky dough and the tart apple and also looks really beautiful.
For the tarts, there’s no need to go through the trouble of making a crust yourself, instead you simply use a sheet of store-bought puff pastry. (You will need to thaw the sheet for about 40 minutes before you can use it, so be sure to plan for that).
To prepare the apples, you peel, core and slice 2 Granny Smith thinly, then you cook them in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Once the apple slices are tender, you mix them with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon corn starch and then distribute them on the puff pastry. In the oven they go and 20 to 25 minutes later your tarts are ready!
More delicious fruit desserts:
- Raspberry Custard
- Vanilla Cream with Cinnamon-Sugared Cranberries
- Ginger Honey Roasted Pears
- Lemon Cream Puffs
- Star Anise-Poached Pears
- Black Forest Eton Mess
- Raspberry Apple Crisp
- Stovetop Apple Crisp
- Lemon Ginger Mousse
- Almond Orange Mousse with Anise
Apple Tarts with Chai-Spiced Custard Sauce
Ingredients:
For the custard sauce:
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 whole cloves
- 1 half-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
- 1 teaspoon black pepper corns
- 6 egg yolks
For the apple tarts:
- 1 puff pastry sheet, thawed
- 2 Granny Smith apples
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Instructions:
For the custard sauce:
- Add milk, cream, sugar and spices to a saucepan and bring to boil, stirring constantly.
- Turn the heat off, cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Strain out the spices.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, then whisk in the milk mix.
- Transfer the mix back into the saucepan and, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, heat on medium-low heat until it has thickened and is coating the back of the spoon (about 4 minutes). Be careful not to let the mix boil.
For the apple tarts:
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Peel, core and thinly slice the apples.
- Melt the butter in a pan, then add the apples and cook them until tender.
- Mix the sugar and the corn starch in a bowl, then add the apples to the bowl and mix everything around.
- Cut six rounds (about 3.5 inches in diameter each) out of the puff pastry and distribute the apple slices on them.
- Bake the tarts until they are golden-brown (20-25 minutes).
- Serve the tarts with the sauce.
Nutrition
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So beautiful… the flavors and that drip!
Thank you so much, Kevin! (I was happy with how that drip on the creamer turned out :)).
We never get much snow here! When it does come it is usually in late January or February, never in time for Christmas! :-( These little apple tarts and your spiced custard look divine, even if there is no snow! x
Aww, this tart looks and sounds so cozy, Nicole. I love the spices!! We have yet to get our first snow here in ND, but I’m sure it’ll be here any day now. For now, it’s just rainy. I’ll sure be making this tart soon enough, snow or not!
I did really like the spices in this sauce, too! Enjoy the first snow, whenever it comes. :)
You had me at chai spiced custard sauce. Aw man, I’d put that on all sorts of things! This is such a wonderful pairing, Nicole! And of course, the photos are stunning.
Thank you so much, Kathleen! I honestly really love that sauce too and I think I’ll come up with more recipe to use it in. I actually ate the rest of it earlier straight and even that was delicious! :)
This looks amazing, the custard sounds just perfect. Beautiful photo, though I don’t remember ever seeing a photograph that wasn’t beautiful on your blog :)
Thank you so much, Fida! That is so nice of you to say! :)
Ummm what? Snow? Already? Brrrr I am not HAPPY! But wow this dessert! Ahhh it’s heaven! And you know I love the photos :)
At first I thought I wasn’t ready for snow yet either but then I ended up liking it. The nice thing about Colorado is that cold snaps never last that long, it was warm and sunny again this weekend. :)
These tarts look incredible and so does the photo! I love your consistently gorgeous styling
Thank you, Tori! I love the styling aspect of photography, it’s challenging but so much fun. :)
Such a beautiful and calm photo! I love the way you compose your photos Nicole,
Thank you, Jyothi!! :)
Yum! This looks beautiful and sounds delicious. I love chai! This is the perfect fall dessert. :-)
Thank you so much, Sandra! I love the chai flavors too! :)
I miss the photographer tips! Love the photography though!
Thanks for the feedback, Debbi. I’ll bring the photography and styling notes back in the next post. :)