Ombre apple tart

Cream the butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy.

Add the egg and whisk a minute or two; add the vanilla seeds, flour, cornstarch and salt and mix with a wooden spoon to a uniform, thick dough.

Sandwich the dough between two sheets of parchment and refrigerate one hour.

Heat the cream, the vanilla pod and half the castor sugar in a medium pot over low to medium heat to about 190F, then take off the heat.

Whisk the egg yolks, remaining castor sugar and cornstarch until dissolved.

Ladle the hot cream slowly into the yolks while whisking; after about the third ladle, return the mixture to the pot.

Whisk over medium heat until it starts to thicken; off the heat whisk 30 seconds, then back on for one minute whisking hard; repeat until significantly thickened and hard to whisk.

Cover with a lid and cool to about 120F; whisk in the butter two tablespoons at a time.

Press cling film onto the surface to prevent a skin and chill about two hours.

Roll the dough to about a quarter inch or thinner; lay it over the tart mold and press it into the shape along the edges; trim the excess.

Line with foil filled with beans and bake at 350F around 30 minutes, until solid golden brown on the sides.

Cool a few minutes so the shell pulls from the mold, then to room temperature.

Wash the apples; choose ones grading green to yellow and pink to red; slice around the core into thirds, then as thinly and evenly as possible, with lemon juice against browning.

Whisk the chilled pastry cream about 30 seconds, put it in a piping bag with a half-inch opening, and pipe evenly into the shell just below the lip.

Shingle the apple slices from deep green through yellow to pink and red.

Brush the edges with thick simple syrup for sheen; top with Chantilly cream and a slight dusting of cinnamon.