Top 8: The tastiest shop-bought apple tarts, including locally-made treats
Apple Fort Of Pie: Food Staple A
Apple pie is one of the top comfort foods. Any straw poll of men in Ireland will see hands raised in favour of a simple apple pie, no fancy nutmeg or cinnamon.
It’s not the apple season but last year’s apples have been stored and are in good condition. While some don’t have the same vibrancy as the crop fresh in autumn, we allowed for this when judging our Top 8 today.
The terms pie and tart are interchangeable, at least in Ireland, and generally suggest a top and bottom of pastry filled with slices of apple and sugar.
We judged the pastry on its crispness, firmness and ability to hold the filling, with some sweetness that balances the tartness of the cooking apples. To stretch the amount of apple, some companies thicken their apple with a sweetened mixture and quite a few additives which take away from a natural texture. This sugary mix and pastry that ended up claggy on the palate meant that many didn’t make our final selection.
Unimpressed with some supermarket offerings I went off track and bought local - you can find similar delicious tarts nationwide in filling stations, butchers’ shops, and small bakeries.
Our surprise purchase of the day was in a butcher’s shop in St Luke’s, Cork, where a bakery section has sweet and savoury dishes made in-house. This proved fortunate as with crisp, shortcrust, and plenty of slices of nicely tart apple, it was one of our favourites. A real find. Worth looking at local butchers who have been extending their services.
9
As usual, this Carrigaline Co Cork-based bakery hits the right note with the quality of the pastry. This old-style shortcrust top and bottom held plenty of sliced apple filling with enough sugar, so we didn’t wince. A delicious, traditional pie.
9
Puff pastry is used here to good effect, the top in an attractive lattice pattern with a decent amount of apple, some puréed, some sliced. All tasters like it. Suitable for vegetarians. Made in Britain.
8
The shortcrust pastry here has an attractive heart shape on top and has good flavour and texture, though two tasters found it a little dry. They enjoyed and finished their slices, though. The apple had a mild flavour, and the texture was natural. Always worth checking out this Old Mallow Road bakery. Parking outside is usually available.
8
In the heart of Blackpool Cork at 80 Thomas Davis Street, I had to wait at the small counter while a fresh batch finished baking. It was worth the 10 minutes for the firm shortcrust texture and layers of sliced apple for contrast. Another established bakery we need to keep supporting. While on a busy street, there’s always parking within 50 metres.
8.75
Popular with several young tasters who aren’t aware of the texture of old-fashioned shortcrust. Here the pastry is softer and cake-like, probably from the addition of liquid egg. A decent amount of apple filling is thickened with starch.
8
This SuperValu outlet has succeeded, as described by one taster, in producing an “honest, solid, homemade-style tart” with soft apple held by good, shortcrust pastry, which pleased all tasters.
8.75
We discovered this brand in our local petrol station. From a bakery in Abbeyfeale Co Limerick, it has a good balance of apple and pastry made from buttermilk, egg and sugar, giving it a softer, more cake-like texture than pastry. Younger tasters preferred it to crisper pastry.
8.75