Salted Caramel Apple Tart

It’s peak apple season here in Missouri and we had the joy of going to Eckert’s Farm in Belleville, IL a couple weekends ago to pick apples as a family. We love Eckert’s. This is not a sponsored blog post, but they did invite us out for social media coverage. Eckert’s is a 45 min drive from where we live in St. Louis, but it is always a fun time. There is much more than just apples and pumpkins to pick this time of year. They have fall festivals, carnival rides, live music, a cider shed, and a country store where you can bring home their exquisite pies. We picked several apples that lasted us a while, but we knew we wanted to make some sort of pie or tart with some of them.

When we’re creating new recipes we really go for the “well what we would WE want to eat?” idea. This recipe came together using some other basic recipes from this site. We knew we wanted a graham cracker crust, and adapted our key lime pie crust to a more seasonal take adding pumpkin pie spice.

The salted caramel sauce must be made very carefully, so not to burn or start a fire in your kitchen. But you can do it, it’s easy, you just have to be very present throughout. This recipe ended up being one of our new fall favorites. Top it with vanilla ice cream and it’s a show stopper. After one bite, Neil considered adding it to our Thanksgiving menu.

Salted Caramel Apple Tart

Prep Time: 25 min. Cook Time: 30-40 min. Cool Time: 30 min.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

8 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For the salted caramel sauce:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons butter, diced

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel

For the tart:

3 golden delicious apples, skin removed and cut into 1/8″ half moon slices

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter the bottom and edges of a 10″ tart pan. Using a food processor, pulse together all ingredients for the crust. Press the crust on the bottom and along the sides of the tart pan evenly. Starting on the outside of the tart pan and circling your way in, lay the apples. I try to make a nice flower looking design in the very middle with smaller pieces. Lightly brush the apples with melted butter and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of white sugar on top. Place in the oven to bake for 30-40 minutes until the apples are cooked and the crust is golden brown.

While the tart is baking, make the salted caramel sauce. Place sugar in a small pot and heat over medium. Stir occasionally so sugar doesn’t stick to bottom of the pot. Once all sugar is melted, it will turn quickly to an amber color. Watch very closely so not to overcook and burn the sugar. Once sugar is an amber color, remove from heat and add the butter and stir with a wire whisk. The mixture will steam and bubble, but continue to carefully whisk. Add cream and continue to whisk. Add the salt and continue to whisk. As caramel cools, it will thicken. IF it seizes up, whisk again vigorously over low heat until the sugar is melted.

Drizzle warm caramel sauce over the apples. Let it set and cool for about 30 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream.