Amaretti Apple Tart is my go-to dessert when I want to impress. It ticks all the boxes; It tastes fantastic, looks great, and is far easier to make than it may appear.
What are Amaretti biscuits?
Amaretti biscuits are traditional Italian almond flavoured macaron biscuits. The word Amaretti means ‘little bitter things’, and these hard cookies are perfect served after dinner with coffee or a liqueur.
Amaretti biscuits were first created in the early 1700’s in Venice, as an emergency wedding treat by a baker, who only had eggs, apricot kernels and sugar in the building at the time the priest arrived. Today Amaretti biscuits are still made in the same way, with apricot kernels giving them their trademark almond flavour rather than them containing the nut itself.
There are lots of recipes using Amaretti biscuits on the internet, but I favour using them either as a crunchy base as I have with this apple tart or added to crumble topping.
What you need for the Amaretti Apple Tart base:
150g Plain flour
75g Unsalted butter plus extra to grease the tin
75g Caster sugar
60g Amaretti biscuits
What you Need for the Amaretti Apple Tart topping:
800g even-sized apples. Here I am using Pink Lady apples
60g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
25g butter, melted
26cm loose bottom flan tin, greased
How to make Amaretti Apple Tart
To make the Amaretti biscuit base, crush the Amaretti biscuits finely. I find popping them in a bag and use a rolling pin to crush them works well.
Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar and the crushed Amaretti biscuits.
Press this mixture firmly into the base of your greased tin.
Prepare your apples by cutting into quarters, peeling them if you choose and coring them. You will see from the photos I didn’t peel mine on this occasion, as I think the red skins look pretty. I probably would, however, if I was using an apple such as a Bramley.
Take an apple quarter and slice it finely, holding the slices together as you cut. Repeat with the rest of the apples.
Once all the apple quarters are prepared, take a section and, pushing down on it gently, fan the slices out slightly and arrange them neatly on top of the biscuit base. Try not to leave any of the Amaretti base uncovered and remember the slices will shrink as they cook.
Note: This Amaretti apple tart recipe is very forgiving so don’t worry if your slices are a little uneven. Once cooked, the apple slices always look pretty even if they were a bit unruly when they went in the oven.
Once you have arranged the slices to your liking, brush them with the melted butter, and sprinkle over the mix of the sugar and cinnamon.
Pop onto a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven 180C for 30-40 minutes.
It is ready when the apples are soft and have a little colour to their edges.
Leave to cool before removing from the tin, and then serve with cream or crème fraiche.
If you have enjoyed our Amaretti apple tart recipe, you might also enjoy our Summer Berry Pavlova and our Raspberry and Hibiscus Jelly desserts.
36 comments
This is such a pretty tart! And I love the use of fresh apples. That makes it a fairly healthy treat too!
Thank you Scarlet, I count it as a healthy treat too π
This looks absolutely delicious! I just bought two baskets of apples at the farmer’s market. My kids usually just eat them plain, but I may have to set some aside for this. It would definitely be the star of the show at my next dinner party. Thanks for the great recipe!
It really is my favourite dessert recipe Tara, let me know if you try it π
Oh this looks amazing and delicious! You can’t tell at all that the slices are uneven. It’s almost to pretty to eat.
Thanks Linda, it’s actually really forgiving – the slices always look better once they are cooked even if they are a little uneven beforehand π
Yes this does impress! You say it is easy? I’ll make a GF version, this looks amazing!
Oh would love to hear how the gf version turns out Kellie, sure it’d be great – in fact you’ve just put an idea in my head for something I might play around with myself, thanks!
I’ll look into figuring out the crust. If you figure it out first let me know.
Hi Sarah, this does look good. Bet my apple slices won’t look so neat though!
xx
I always think mine look a mess when I am cutting them Debbie, but the tart is really forgiving, and always looks great when it comes out of the oven π
I love the way you put the apples together!
Thanks Thomas, it’s a lovely dessert, and is actually pretty simple to make π
Oh my god NOM! I really shouldn’t be looking at food – I just disgracefully ate a Burger King due to extreme hunger at a work event! At least this has apples… π #BloggerClubUK
Yep this counts as one of your 5 a day (in my mind, anyway). I spend so much time looking at food on the internet, I’m always hungry lol
This looks incredible, drooling just from the pictures! Adding to my Pinterest to make at some point.
It tastes so good Lisa, it’s the only dessert I remember trying for the first time and thinking that it was totally amazing π
Boy am I glad I finally joined that FB thread. This looks amazing and even though I’m competent at desserts, I rarely make them and keep telling myself I must at least make one for our special family dinner on the weekend. Fab!
What a lovely comment, thank you π It is such a brilliant recipe, let me know if you try it – I’m sure everyone will love it π
What a beautiful dish! Fit for any kind of company or celebration! And much prettier than a pie. Are the Amaretti biscuits like shortbread? I’m wondering if that would be a good substitution.
Amaretti biscuits are a hard italian version of a macaroon, so they contain almonds and egg whites (I think). Something like a hard, ginger biscut would be a good substitution I think, Kathryn. Let me know what you use if you try it x
This is just too pretty to eat, but I’ll try it anyway!
It really is a great recipe Mary – it always looks and tastes fabulous, but is pretty simple to make π
This looks and sounds delicious. I love the pairing of amarettinis and apple.
#kidsinthekitchen
Fionnuala from http://www.threesonslater.blogspot.com
It is really yummy. We crush up Amaretti biscuits and put it in our crumble topping, and that’s fantastic too!
Love apple desserts and love the apple cinnamon combo too! Thanks for sharing – will be giving this a go this autumn #kidsinthekitchen
It really is a lovely desert – everyone will love it I promise!
This looks delicious. I have loads of apples from a tree in my garden to use up so will try this. Thanks for linking to #PickNMix
It really is yummy – you wont be disappointed !
This looks delicious! If I can find the time this might have to be a recipe I try. Thank you for sharing
Stopping over from #TwinklyTuesday
Marissa
It really is a delicious dessert! Thanks for popping by π
This sounds so delish! And it looks gorgeous, I am pinning this, I want to keep it handy to make again and again, I would be proud to take this beauty to any gathering! Thanks for sharing.
It really is a delicious desert, I’m sure you will love it. Thanks so much for visiting and your kind comments π
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Delicious and nutritious which are two of my favorite things….my kids love apples so I bet they would love these! Thank you for sharing this with #foodpornthursdays!
My kids love it. Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment x