It is funny to think that this recipe(and so many others on this site) came from me needing to use up leftover ingredients. It is usually those recipes where I end up getting super creative or I luck into really great flavor combinations. This recipe embraced the latter. And it all started with two egg yolks. I figured making a pastry cream with them would be a good way to use them, but then the next question became “what flavor”? I happened to have a giant jug of maple that I more or less only use in the fall, so I figured why not experiment with this? So I made a maple pastry cream, and it had lovely caramel-y, perfume-y notes to it. It was silky, creamy, and just needed to be used in something. So I figured, why not make it a tart filling? For a pate sucre, I usually use egg yolk or whole eggs as my wet ingredients to bind the dough, but in this case, I used maple syrup in lieu of those plus my sugar. Surprisingly, the end pie crust did come together, had those similar sweet, warming notes to it, and the crust itself was pleasantly buttery and short. The one thing I knew in advanced with my fluted tart pan was that it is 8 inches long. Meaning I would need a lot of filling and/or garnishes to fill a tart shell of that size. To help bulk up my pastry cream, I sauteed some apples(I had a handful of honeycrisps that have been squatting in my fridge for weeks) in brown butter, just to add some tart notes, as well as nutty notes to play off of the maple. To ensure the apple bit wasn’t too sweet, since I wasn’t using my preferred granny smith, did not add any extra sugar to the apples, simply focusing on drawing out their natural flavor by cooking them as-is in the brown butter. I folded those through the maple pastry cream, just to give it some variety in texture, and that became a really perfect filling to a tart that was evolving as I rummaged through my fridge and pantry to get rid of ingredients lying around. I had already envisioned doing something with chestnuts for this, because I had a giant bag of roasted-peeled chestnuts in my freezer, and wanted to do a play on maple and chestnuts. Maple, chestnut, and apple, though? Absolute dessert flavor bomb. I wound up doing a chestnut puree, inspired by Mont Blanc, and with that, I also made whipped cream, just to further fill up my tart shell, but to add a lighter component to contrast the rich maple pastry cream and chestnut puree. Now, and the issue again comes back to me needing to buy a smaller tart pan, was that I did not make nearly enough chestnut puree to the tart itself. So instead of having enough to decorate the entire top of the tart wit, I only had enough for like 75%. However, this gave me a good opportunity to use up another apple, introduce some color and movement, and do a gorgeous shaved apple situation to garnish the sides of the tart I couldn’t cover with the chestnut puree. So all in all, the recipe came together as a result of me needing to use up leftover ingredients, and the best part is that you would never know, because the leftover powers that be gifted me a softball in chestnuts, apple, and maple syrup as ingredients I had lying around!

Makes 1 8-inch tart, or 8 servings:
For the maple pate sucre:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter
a pinch of salt
1oz maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a food processor, blend everything together until combined into a smooth dough. Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes before rolling and pressing it into an 8-inch tart tin. Score the dough and place parchment on top of it. Weigh the shell with pie weights and bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Allow the shell to cool before adding anything else to the filling.

For the brown butter apples:
1 honeycrisp apple, peeled and medium dice
3 tbsp unsalted butter
a pinch of salt

Sautee the apples with brown butter and salt until tender.

For the maple pastry cream:
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp cornstarch
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup whole milk
2oz maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
brown butter apples

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt until combined. In a pot, bring milk and maple to a simmer. Pour half of the warmed milk over the egg yolks and whisk. Then add the egg yolks to the pot and whisk everything together on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Pass through a sieve and fold in the vanilla, then the apples to finish.

For chestnut puree:
6oz roasted and shelled chestnuts
2oz heavy cream
2oz whole milk
a pinch of salt

In a pot, simmer everything in a pot together until the liquid is reduced by half. Puree the chestnuts and liquid together to form a puree. Allow the puree to cool before transferring to a piping bag with a mont blanc piping tip.

For the whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, whisk everything together until stiff peaks form.

For the apple shavings:
1 apple, cored
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt
water

Shave an apple on the thinnest setting of the mandolin before storing in a bowl with salted-lemon’d water.

For assembly:
Confectioner’s sugar

Spread the apple-maple pastry cream onto the bottom of the tart shell. Then spread an even layer of cream, and pipe the chestnut puree in the center. Garnish the edges with apple shavings and finish with a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar.