While summer was a little shy here this year, Autumn has been more than happy to put in a punctual appearance so using apples and plums were the perfect seasonal choice for me when taking part in this months  #Baketogether, the monthly blog event organised by Abby Dodge, inviting us to take one of her recipes and put our own spin on it.

This months #Baketogether recipe was for Brown Butter Apple Hand tarts. I’ve heard a lot about brown butter but only made it once before and wasn’t convinced that I’d done it correctly so this month I didn’t want to change the recipe too much as it sounded perfect as it was! The only changes I made was to make apple plum filling, I also halved the recipe as the original recipe is for 18 hand tarts which was far too many for 2 of us!

I loved these pies! The brown butter crust was so good I admit to trying some of it raw! It’s the brown butter! It’s so good and the smell is amazing! The aroma of the brown butter mixed with the apple, plums and cinnamon in the filling was wonderful, I’m surprised Yankee Candle didn’t come knocking on my door for a new Autumn fragrance! I was really happy with my filling and only wish I hadn’t halved the recipe as the pies disappeared far too quickly!

As I am not a regular pastry maker I thought these pies would be more difficult to make but as usual Abby’s instructions are easy to follow and give great results, therefore I have linked to her page for the making of the dough and the putting together of the pies.

Apple and Plum Brown Butter Hand Tarts ( makes 8 hand tarts)

For the brown butter pie dough

• 4 0z unsalted butter
• 3.5 oz (1/2 cup) sugar, I used unrefined
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 7  1/4 oz ( 1.5 cups) plain flour

For the Pie filling (more than enough for the pies with some left over to enjoy as a compote)

• 8 oz apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped.
• 8 oz plums, stoned and sliced
• 1 tbsp sugar, I used unrefined
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

To Finish off

• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp water
• demerara sugar for sprinkling

1. To make the dough for these tarts follow Abby’s expert instructions here
2. To make the filling, place the apples, plums, sugar and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently until the apples are soft but not mushy.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to completely cool.
4. Preheat oven to 190 c, 375 f, gas 5.
5. To assemble the pies follow Abby’s instructions here