Apple and walnut tart with golden syrup

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the pastry:

175g/6 oz plain flour
75g/3 oz unsalted butter
35g/1¼ oz icing sugar
1 egg yolk
½ tbsp iced water-if needed

For the filling:

4 small apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tsp. vanilla essence
110g/4 oz butter
110g/4 oz soft brown sugar
175g/6 oz golden syrup
175g/6 oz walnuts, toasted
Zest of 1 orange/lemon
2 free range eggs, beaten

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4/Baking oven of Aga.
• Put all the pastry ingredients in a food processor or, to make by hand, rub the flour, icing sugar and butter together until it starts to resemble breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and water, stir well. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
• Butter well a 9 inch loose-bottomed tart case. Sprinkle with flour and then knock off the excess. This will prevent the pastry from sticking to the case. Roll out the pastry quite thinly (between 2 sheets of cling film) and place inside case. Remove cling film and press the pastry well into the sides of the tart case making sure that it is even the whole way around. Trim the sides. With a fork, make air holes in the base. Chill again for 20 minutes or place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Reserve any extra dough to fill cracks in the cooked case.
• Bake the case for 15-20 minutes until crisp and lightly golden, brush the surface with egg wash once cooked and replace in the oven for a further 5 minutes. Fill any cracks with some extra pastry. Allow to cool.
• Arrange the apple slices on the base of the pastry case.
• Melt the butter, golden syrup and soft brown sugar together over a low heat for 2 minutes or so. Stir in the orange zest and vanilla essence. Remove from the heat and stir in the eggs and walnuts.
• Spoon the filling into the tart case over the apples and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve with sweetened yoghurt and butterscotch sauce.