Apple tart is hardly unique to South African cuisine, but cooking with fruit and vegetables is an important part of our food heritage. 

"The flavours of apple, caramel and pastry combined with the creaminess of vanilla ice cream beg for a méthode champenoise sparkling wine where the traditional preparation method ensures yeasty notes and apple flavours. It is a perfect combination!", says La Motte Cellarmaster Edmund Terblanche.

Apple Tart & Vanilla Ice Cream

250 ml sugar, sifted

3 Tbs butter

3 eggs

250 ml flour

75 ml  milk

1 tsp Baking powder

5 poached apples (see below)

1 pinch of salt

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating thoroughly.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture, then add milk. Combine till smooth.

Butter and flour the baking tray and pour in the mixture. Position the apples on top of the mixture.

Bake the tart for 35 minutes. 

Poached Apples

5  apples 

500 g sugar

1 liter water

1 cinnamon stick

Bring sugar, water and cinnamon to a simmer in a large pot. Peel and core the apples and poach for 10 to 15 minutes in the cinnamon liquid. Cool and slice into desired shape and size.

Sauce

200 ml sugar

3 Tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla

125 ml milk

300 ml Ideal Milk

While your tart is baking, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a smaller sauce pan. Cook for 10 minutes. When the pudding is done, poke holes in the batter and slowly pour the sauce over the tart. Allow to cool. 

Ideal Milk and Vanilla Ice Cream 

1 tin of condensed milk

250 ml fresh cream

1 sheet gelatin

1 tin Ideal Milk

½ tsp vanilla essence / vanilla pod (use one vanilla pod if available)

Combine cream, vanilla and condensed milk. Bloom gelatin in ice water. Warm up 50 g of milk to dissolve the gelatin. Add gelatin to the condensed milk / cream mixture. Foam the ideal milk by whipping thoroughly. Fold this into the rest of the ingredients. Pour into a container and freeze, stirring every half hour until it is set.

Serve Ouma's Apple tart with a generous scoop of her Ideal milk and vanilla ice cream - and, of course, a glass of 2019 La Motte Méthode Cap Classique Brut!