Apple Tart with Cloves

My dad’s apple tart was legendary. He had a dab-hand with pastry, whipping up crusts that were light, flaky, and golden, and yet somehow dense and hearty, the perfect foil for sharp-flavored baking apples. He seasoned his tarts only with cloves and sugar, nothing else, so the taste of apples, not cinnamon, was predominant. The old-fashioned recipe for this tart, and the way my dad did it, had whole cloves scattered among the layers to gently infuse the apples with flavor; we simply picked t