Appeltaart

There’s something comforting and intoxicatingly nostalgic about spiced apple slices baked in a golden, tender pastry crust. It draws you in, like a language everyone—or at least every baker—across the globe understands. From the French tarte Tatin to the South American empanada, most regions have their own take on apple pie. The Dutch’s cake-pastry hybrid appeltaart is in a league all its own. The Dutch may not have created the apple pastry concept, but they have certainly revolutionized it with this innovative dish that dates back to the Middle Ages and combines the best elements of cake and pastry.

Completely different from the crumb streusel-topped pie known in the US as Dutch apple pie, appeltaart, which translates to “apple pie,” features a mountain of tender spiced apples encased in a crisp-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside crust. Think of the