No, I don’t mean skinny dipper. This is a family show people.
I mean dipping cookies in chocolate or cake pops into candy coating.
I feel that I am an okay dipper but it is not an ability I would ever pride myself on. My dipped confections tend to be fully covered, but uneven. Shiny, but lumpy. They taste good, but something about them never looks quite right.
I am, what I call, a “rustic” dipper.
Sometimes when I dip, the dipee ends up lost at the bottom of a bowl coating, me with only a drippy, naked stick to show for it.
I love caramel apples, but they certainly involve a lot of dipping.
So next best thing? Caramel Apple Tart.
It’s actually not that similar to a Caramel Apple. It’s not the sharp tartness of a raw granny smith paired with gooey caramel. It’s baked apple covered in gooey caramel. In a tart shell. But at the end of the day it’s apples combined with thick caramel. Who can complain about that?
Not me. No sir.
Especially with the noticable lack of dipping.
Caramel Apple Tart
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Caramel Sauce
- 3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon ice water
Filling
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, eigthed, cored
Directions
- Caramel Sauce: Bring sugar, cream, and butter to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until sugar dissolves. Boil until caramel thickens enough to coat spoon thickly, whisking often, about 10 minutes. DO AHEAD Caramel sauce can be made 5 days ahead. Cover; chill. Whisk over low heat until warm before using.
- Crust: Blend flour, powdered sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and blend until coarse meal forms. Add egg yolks. Pulse until moist clumps form. If needed, add ice water gradually and pulse further until dough begins to form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap and chill at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD Dough for tart crust can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
- Filling: Whisk first 4 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Add apples and toss until evenly coated.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 11-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Cut overhang even with top of pan sides. Press sides of dough to bring 1/4 inch above sides of pan. Arrange apple quarters, cut side down, in circle around outer edge of pan, fitting snugly. Work your way inwards in concentric circles until the tart crust is filled. Cut slices in half if needed to fill center.
- Bake tart until apples are tender, about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove tart from oven; brush with some of caramel sauce. Cool tart to room temperature.
- Rewarm remaining caramel sauce. Drizzle tart lightly with sauce. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.
Amandeleine 
