Rustic Free-Form Apple Tartlets

In bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, pulse flour, sugar, and salt to combine. Add butter and cream cheese; pulse until mixture is sandy, with small, pebblelike curds, 10 to 12 one-second pulses (mixture should not form cohesive ball). Turn mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle lemon juice and 1 tablespoon ice water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to evenly distribute water and lemon juice into flour mixture until small portion of dough holds together when squeezed in palm of hand (see illustration 1), adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if necessary. (Mixture will look dry even after liquid is incorporated.) Turn dough onto clean, dry work surface; gather and gently press together into cohesive ball, then flatten into rough disk. With chef’s knife or dough scraper, cut dough into 6 equal pieces, shaping each piece into disk about 3 inches wide. Place disks in single layer on flat dinner plate, wrap plate in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes (can be refrigerated up to 2 days).

Remove dough from refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 30 minutes, let stand at room temperature until soft and malleable). Working one at a time, roll out disks between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment paper into circles approximately 6 inches wide. Remove top layer of parchment; trim bottom layer of parchment into rectangles about 2 inches larger than dough. Stack rectangles with parchment on plate; cover plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing fruit.

Adjust one oven rack to highest position and other rack to lowest position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/4-inch-thick slices and toss with lemon juice, 1/4 cup sugar, and cinnamon. Arrange parchment-lined dough rounds in single layer on work surface. Following illustrations 5 and 6, arrange about 1 cup apple slices, thick edges out, in circular mound, leaving 1-inch border of dough. Fold dough border up over filling, pleating dough to fit snugly around apples. With cupped hands, gently press dough to filling, reinforcing shape and compacting apples (see illustration 7). Using parchment lining, slide 3 tartlets onto each of 2 cookie sheets.

Bake tartlets until pale golden brown, about 15 minutes. Brush crust with beaten egg whites and sprinkle apples with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Return tartlets to oven, switching positions of cookie sheets; bake until crust is deep golden brown and apples are tender, about 15 minutes longer. Cool tartlets on cookie sheets 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, remove from parchment and transfer to cooling rack. Cool additional 5 minutes; serve.

TO MAKE AHEAD: The dough can be prepared through step 2 and refrigerated for up to 2 days. The dough may also be left as a single disk, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and stored in the freezer for up to 1 month before preparing tartlets.

TO DOUBLE: To make 12 tartlets, double all ingredients, preparing dough in 2 batches and baking tarts in 2 batches.