The Core Facts

Overall verdict: Surprisingly good for a basic recipe that uses minimal sugar and no cinnamon or cloves for flavour
Timings: 20 minutes to prepare + 40 mins in oven
Sugar: 75g
Butter: 125g
Type of apple: Pink Lady

The Long Peel

To be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for this one. The clue for that is in the name: the Old School Irish Apple Tart from Donal Skehan uses simple ingredients with minimal prep and bake time. No cloves or cinnamon here and no chilling of pastry either – he asks for cold butter and flour but you can keep moving with it.

The Pastry

A straightforward approach to pastry was taken for this one – rub the butter into the flour and add water. No egg.

I think I probably rolled a bit thin again, as I had left over pastry – just as I did for my Clodagh McKenna apple pie. Donal didn’t give any instructions for decoration so I didn’t add any.

The Apples

This recipe asks for Pink Lady apples rather than Bramleys. I always thought Pink Lady apples were for eating rather than cooking but I didn’t notice a big difference in the taste of the finished product.

Donal asks for the apples to be sliced and tossed in the sugar. I tried to slice them thinly but they retained a lot of bite during the bake – possibly a bit too much for my liking.

The Bake

Donal says 35-40 minutes. I gave it 40. I was really pleased that it didn’t look overdone but I’d have preferred the apples to have been a bit softer.

The Dish

Donal suggests a 23cm plate for this recipe rather than a dish. Unfortunately, I’ve decided to stick with the same pie dish for consistency, which means I had to deviate from his wishes a bit. I used a 23cm pie dish with a depth of around 4cm but I don’t think it made a huge difference.

The Hot Slice

The apple slices were still in tact and a little on the crunchy side, which made me worried that the base wasn’t going to hold. It tasted great though – a proper old school apple tart, just as it promised.

The Rested Result

The base was too thin but it held nicely:

What If We Repeeled?

• I’d slice the apples more thinly
• The pastry needed to be thicker
• Maybe try it on a plate rather than a dish

Scores

Simplicity of bake: Simple
Pastry texture: Melt-in-the-mouth top and soft but discernible base
Pastry taste: Proper old school
Apple texture: Slightly too crisp for me
Apple taste: Just plain ole apple did the business very well
Apple to pastry ratio: Could have done with a bit more apple
Overall score: 8 out of 10