Swedish Apple Tart

A gift of autumn fruit is a wonderful thing. When a lovely friend delivered a basketful of apples from her garden last week, I knew at once what I was going to do with them. Well some of them anyway! Hiram’s Apple Tart is a Swedish classic and a pudding I adored growing up. Delicious, sweet buttery dessert apples, encased in a shortcrust pastry served with cream is a tempting and seasonal autumn treat.

My mum would make this apple tart frequently in the autumn and winter months. Back then we had a garden full of apple trees, laden with fruit, that needed eating. She would make a batch and pop in the freezer. Very handy for an impromptu gathering of friends and family, so it’s a recipe I simply cannot forget.

Märit Huldt wrote under the pseudonym Hiram. She actually trained as an artist at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. After winning a food competition, she became a food writer for The National newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in 1955, where she stayed for 25 years. Märit also published many cook books, which she also illustrated with whimsical drawings.

Much as I loved the original recipe as a child (I had a much sweeter tooth then). I have adjusted the recipe to suit my taste. I add less sugar because the dessert apples themselves are sweet. It goes without saying, the sweeter the apple, the sweeter the end result will be. There is a huge difference between a tart Granny Smith to a sweet Gala apple. Also not in the original recipe but I like the addition of lemon. I have played around with other additional ingredients such as cinnamon and chopped nuts.

So if you have a glut of garden apples, I strongly recommend baking this tart, and maybe a few more for the freezer?