Jack Skellington-style Apple and Cinnamon Pie

A an apple-filled tart with a touch of cinnamon, can you resist? During the Halloween season, we all look for treats with a mysterious, festive touch. And what better way to celebrate this time than with a Jack Skellington-style Apple Tart?

Inspired by the famous character from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', this tart combines the sweetness of the apples with the unmistakable aroma of cinnamon in a dessert that will delight all lovers of the spooky. Join us as we guide you through this recipe, which is sure to be a hit at your next Halloween party or simply for enjoying with family. Let’s make a frightfully delicious dessert!

And if the Halloween face doesn't fit... you can always give it whatever finish or design you want!

Ingredients

For the homemade sweet pastry:

• 225 g butter
• 150 g icing sugar
• 90 g ground almonds
• 2 eggs
• 1 pinch of salt
• 375 g flour

For the apple filling:

• 4 apples
• 60 g brown sugar
• The juice of one lemon
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 10 g cornstarch

Preparation

Prepare the homemade sweet pastry:

1. Let's start with the sweet pastry. In a large bowl, or in the bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
2. Then add the icing sugar along with the almond flour and mix these ingredients together.
3. Now add the eggs to the mixture and incorporate them until everything is uniform.
4. Add the flour, but the trick here is not to overmix — just enough to have it all combined.
5. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour, wrapped in cling film.

Prepare the apple filling with a touch of cinnamon:

1. Cut the apples into large slices.
2. In a bowl, add the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, white pepper and the cornstarch. Mix everything so the slices are well coated with all the ingredients.
3. Set aside.

Assembly

1. Once the dough has rested, remove it from the refrigerator and divide it into two parts. Roll out the first portion on a floured surface. Then roll it onto a rolling pin and unroll it into the perforated De Buyer tart pan (it's useful that it's perforated for baking the pastry, and removable so you can easily extract the tart without breaking it and present it without the pan).
2. To shape the tart, press the dough against the edges of the pan, making sure it fits snugly. Using your thumb and forefinger, slightly lift the edges of the dough.
3. To keep the dough firm, refrigerate it again (in the pan) for another hour or place it in the freezer until you finish the other half of the tart at minimum.
4. Now roll out the other portion of dough into a circle using a rolling pin. It should be a circle slightly larger than the tart pan used. Use a cookie cutter to make holes that will represent the eyes and nose, and with the tip of a knife, shape the mouth (a semicircular cut and you can draw little lines along the lip to make it spookier). If the dough becomes a bit difficult to handle, put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to make creating Jack Skellington's head easier (as it warms up the dough softens each minute and the cuts stop being clean... if that happens, chill it again for a few minutes). When the face is ready, chill it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes again.
5. Assemble the tart: In the pan reserved with the dough, add the apple mixture prepared earlier. Spread the filling evenly throughout the interior. Then place the tart top, Jack Skellington's head, over the apple mixture and seal the edges by pinching them carefully (joining the base dough with the top dough).
6. Bake everything at 165°C for approximately 50 minutes, until golden.