Apple & chestnut flan

Ingredients

• ¼ lemon
• 3 large, sweet, eating apples
• 1 x 230g packet of all-butter puff pastry
• 4 tbsp sweet chestnut spread or puree (I use Clement Faugier)
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar
• Crème fraîche or double cream, to serve (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C. Fill a large bowl with water and squeeze in the lemon juice. Halve your apples (no need to peel) and remove the core, then cut them into thin wedges no more than 3mm thick. Add them to the water as you go to prevent browning.

Cut the pastry into a circle big enough to fit into the base of a large, non-stick flan dish (approx 27cm in diameter) and come up over the edges. Lay the pastry in the flan dish, helping it into the corners and up the edges. This doesn’t need to be neat (thankfully).

Spread the chestnut puree over the base of the flan. You should have a layer about 2mm thick. Drain the apples, gently pat them dry and arrange them on top of the puree. Make sure there’s a bit of an overlap with each slice but don’t pile the apples more than one layer deep or the flan will go soggy and won’t cook. Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the apples.

Bake for 30 mins or until the pastry is golden brown and the apples are soft. Leave to cool slightly, before serving with a dollop of crème fraîche or double cream.