I love apple pie as much as the next girl, but what really gets my heart racing is the thought of tender apple slices drizzled with warm caramel on a flaky, all-butter crust.
And, because you only have to roll out one crust, this recipe is less work than your typical, double-crusted apple pie. (Although the recipe gives you enough crust for two tarts, so use one and freeze the other for the next time you want to make this tart, which may well be the next day.) With its concentric circles of apple slices, an apple tart is certainly a showstopper that will impress your friends and family. And the caramel adds a very welcome extra layer of flavor.
Because apples are such versatile fruits, it is important it is to buy the right apple for the recipe you plan to make. Some apples resist browning, making them good for salads and other preparations where the apples are not cooked. Other apples keep their shape well, making them ideal for baking and other long-cooked recipes, which is what you want here. One good baking variety that is easy to find is McIntosh.
You can make life easy and buy a good-quality caramel sauce for this recipe, or make your own. If the sauce is too thick to spread easily on top of the tart, warm it up a little before brushing over the apple slices.
Topped with a generous dollop of tangy crème fraîche, my caramel apple tart is nothing short of heavenly. Should a caramel apple tart replace apple pie on your holiday table? I hesitate to suggest such heresy, but on the other hand, caramel plus apples equal Nirvana. And, truth be told, not everyone loves pie.
Ingredients
- For the tart shell:
- 7 ounces cold, unsalted butter
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ cup ice water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- For the filling:
- 5 apples
- 2 TB granulated sugar
- 1 TB flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp each ground cloves and allspice
- Pinch salt
- 1 lemon
- Caramel Sauce
Instructions
- Cut the butter into small cubes and place half of the cubes in the freezer. Return the other half to the refrigerator until needed.
- Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the chilled butter from the refrigerator to the dry ingredients and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is in small but still visible pieces.
- Combine the lemon juice and ice water and add six tablespoons of the mixture to the ingredients in the food processor. Pulse several times until combined. Pinch a bit of the dough and if it holds together, you do not need to add more liquid. If it is still dry, add more of the liquid, one-half tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough to a bowl or a well-floured board.
- Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Divide the dough into two and wrap each half well in plastic wrap. Place half the dough in the refrigerator to relax for at least a half-hour. Reserve the other half for another use. (Can be done in advance.)
- If your dough was chilled for longer than thirty minutes, remove from the refrigerator and allow to soften for ten to fifteen minutes before rolling it out.
- Prior to rolling out the dough, strike it with your rolling pin to flatten. This will soften it further.
- Preheat the oven to 375 and grease the bottom and sides of a tart pan.
- Liberally dust a pastry board or mat and your rolling pin with flour.
- Roll the dough out, rotating it and turning it frequently and adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until it is the size of your tart pan and between ¼ and ⅛ of an inch thick.
- Carefully center the tart dough in the pan and press it into the bottom and sides. Trim or fold over any excess dough around the edges and place the tart pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
- Peel, core and slice the apples into thin slices.
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, salt and spices in a small bowl.
- Combine the dry ingredients and the apple slices in a large bowl and toss to coat.
- Zest and juice the lemon. Add the zest and 1 tablespoon of the juice to the apple slices and toss to combine.
- Remove the tart shell from the refrigerator. Arrange the apple slices in overlapping concentric circles, making two layers, if necessary.
- Bake at 375 for one hour or until the apples are tender.
- Cool on a wire rack.
- While the tart is still warm, brush the caramel sauce on top of the apple slices using a pastry brush.
- To serve, drizzle slices with more caramel and garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche.
