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When we think of French desserts, we usually imagine fancy pâtisseries with pyramids of pastel-colored macarons and glossy fruit tarts. But when the French bake at home, they don’t compete with their pastry chefs; they keep it simple. One of my favorite food writers, Dorie Greenspan, wrote of her time living in France: “No matter how chic the hostess, her homemade dessert invariably looked as rustic as if it had come from a farmhouse grand-mère.” This free-form apple tart is the kind of dessert a French woman might throw together at home. Like an apple pie without the pan, it consists of a thin layer of cinnamon-scented apples over a buttery, flaky crust.
