Free-Form Apple Or Pear Tart

Roll the dough directly onto parchment paper and transfer to baking sheet without worrying.

If you make a successful crust and have nicely flavored apples, it's totally worth the effort. I always put the dough directly on a baking stone to roll out. Otherwise, it is difficult to transfer - like delicate shortbread dough. It gives it a nice touch to brush the edges of the crust with egg whites (hate to waste them.) I also brush the center of the crust with apricot preserves with a glob in the center, and then top the apples with crushed almonds which brown and deepen flavor.

Pear, pear, pear! Not hair!

This tart is absolutely delicious !!
The crust is divine and the dough can be patted out directly on the baking sheet...no rolling pin or parchment paper needed.
The tart I made was with pears and was even delicious three days after making.I plan to make it again with pears and again with granny smith apples and golden delicious apples.

Every year I get a box of Harry and David pears which all ripen at once. This was the perfect way to use them! This tastes phenomenal, buttery shortbread. Next time I will add a little ginger, and I wonder if a thin layer of almond paste under the pears would be too over the top?! Roll out the dough with the parchment paper on the top as well as the bottom piece (which transfers right to the cookie sheet), and you will have no muss no fuss , plus a clean rolling pin!

What a great dessert. I took the advice of some others and sprinkled on cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. I also used turbinado sugar instead of brown sugar and sprinkled some sliced almonds on top. This is so beautiful and easy. I will be making this frequently.

I watched the video. I made the dough and it sat a good 24hrs in the fridge. I rolled it out with caramelized pears from last summer on top and boy oh boy was it good. My guests even said the finished product looked like a pizza. Conclusion: 2 thumbs up for this recipe especially the dough,

It looks so good - but can I use store bought pastry dough?

Last night I served a Free-Form Apple Tart dessert with ice cream to friends. Everyone raved about the short piecrust. What I didn't tell them was the great difficulty I had in transferring the rolled out dough to the parchment lined pan. The dough felled apart and luckily I was able to patch it together before baking. Anyone rolling out the must be sure to thoroughly flour both sides of the dough. Watch the video closely.

I want to know how the photo managed to show all the apples slices with NO holes where they were cored? ;-) The magic of food styling? BTW this would work with a base of puff pastry as well.

I added some chopped pistachios to the crust which added a bit of needed crunch. The suggestion from other commenters to add cinnamon and nutmeg on top also added some depth of flavor. I was worried the juciness from the pears would result in a soggy crust but it was perfect--esp with the pistachios. Yum!

I made a double batch. Worked perfectly. Took the advise of adding a good smear of apricot jam prior to adding sliced fruit. Also did half apple, half pear. Will now “mix” the two. Apple has the texture, pear has the taste.

This is NOT the best free-form tart i've made. The crust is ok, not great. The fruit needs to be tossed with a little sugar, maybe a bit of lemon juice, or something else to add a little moisture before arranging it on the crust. Also, instructions should be more clear that the fruit should be piled up in several layers. a single layer of thin slices is not good here.

Finely chopped ginger ( microplane it ) is a nice addition if you use pears. Cinnamon with apples.

I did this all with my hands, and it worked really well. floured my hands and cut the butter into small pieces in my palm, until the pieces of butter were small. I am sure they were still a bit bigger than they would have been with a food processor, but the dough came out well: flaky and tasty. You have to work quickly so the butter stays cold, but very possible!