Spiced Bramley Apple and Cranberry Crumble Tarts
The Coach and Horses - Danehill, East Sussex

Pate Sucree
1. Beat butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy, slit open vanilla pods and scrape out the seeds. Add to creamed mixture.
2. Gradually add beaten eggs followed by sifted flour and salt until mixture comes together as crumbly dough.
3. Gather dough together and turn onto lightly floured surface. Briefly knead the dough until smooth.
4. Wrap in cling-film and leave to rest in fridge for 30 minutes before rolling out.
5. Roll out pate sucree and line 6 individual tart cases. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
6. Blind bake tart case for 20 minutes at 180ºc until golden brown.

The filling
1. Peel and core Bramley apples. Cook half of the apples with half the orange juice, 50g caster sugar, the star anise, cloves and cinnamon until reduced to a puree.
2. Dice the remaining apple, add to the puree and gently cook for a further 2-3 minutes until soft.
3. Slowly cook the cranberries with the remaining sugar, orange juice and orange zest until the berries burst and the sugar has dissolved.
4. Fold the Bramley apple and the cranberry mixtures together and fill the pastry cases, leaving space for the topping.

The Topping
1. Blitz the ginger biscuits in food processor.
2. Mix the butter, flour and sugar together until they resemble fine crumbs, then add biscuits.
3. Sprinkle topping onto tartlets and bake for 10 minutes at 180ºc. Serve with spoonful of vanilla infused crème fraiche.
(temp note: lowresimage) Cranberries may be substituted with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries etc. depending on the season.