Fruit is where thin uniform slicing shows most obviously on the plate, and where the difference between a good result and a mediocre one is almost entirely in the cut rather than the recipe.
The Classic Apple Tart
A French-style apple tart is pastry, a thin layer of something, and overlapping apple slices arranged in rows or a spiral. It contains almost nothing, which means the fruit has to be right.
Slices need to be around two millimetres and identical. Thicker and they stay firm while the pastry burns; uneven and the surface bakes patchily. Slicers with a fine adjustable bed, of the kind in benriner mandoline ranges, make this reproducible in a way that hand-cutting forty apple slices is not.
Preventing Browning
Apples, pears and bananas oxidise within minutes. A bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon holds them without noticeable flavour change, and slices can go straight from the slicer into it.
Drain and pat dry before use, since surface water prevents browning in the oven and makes pastry soggy.
What Works Well Sliced Thin
- Apple and pear, for tarts, crisps and dehydrating
- Citrus, sliced into rounds for candying or garnishing
- Firm stone fruit, though the stone must be removed first
- Pineapple, cored, which dehydrates beautifully
- Banana, for drying rather than baking
- Firm figs and quince, both of which suit thin arrangement
Fruit Crisps
Dried apple and pear crisps are among the easiest things to make and considerably better than the commercial versions, which are usually sweetened.
Slice at around two millimetres, dip briefly in acidulated water, pat dry and dry in a dehydrator or a very low oven until crisp. A dusting of cinnamon before drying is worthwhile; sugar is not necessary and burns.
Candied Citrus
Whole citrus slices, cut thin and simmered gently in sugar syrup then dried, produce translucent discs that keep for weeks and improve any dessert plate.
Uniform thickness matters because slices of different thickness candy at different rates, and the thin ones disintegrate while the thick ones stay tough. This is a preparation that is genuinely difficult without a slicer.
What Not to Attempt
Anything with a stone or hard core still in place. Anything very soft or overripe, which will not cut cleanly by any method. Berries, which are too small and too soft for the guard to hold safely.
Mango and avocado both need the stone removed and then rarely present a stable enough face to be worth the risk.
Presentation
Overlapping thin slices in a fan or spiral is the simplest way to make a plain dessert look considered, and it takes seconds once the slices are uniform.
The arrangement only works if every slice is the same. One thick slice in a fan is immediately visible and undoes the effect, which is the practical reason this technique depends on the tool rather than the arranging.