Caramel Apple Tart
Although I love to cook, I'm generally not a fan of baking. My favorite recipes are the most forgiving ones, soups and stews and braises that never mind a few extra ingredients or last-minute substitutions. Baking is the opposite of that. It's a science, people say. You have to get it exactly right. Yet, every once in awhile, the urge strikes. Like today, when I realized that I had accumulated six pounds of apples and could not possibly eat them all. A pie seemed like the perfect solution -- classic American food for the Fourth of July. I began digging through in search of the perfect recipe and settled on this apple tart with caramel sauce.
Right away, I made mistakes. I read the directions carefully, right up till it told me how to chop the apples. Automatically, I sliced them into the thin slivers I like to serve with equally thin shavings of cheese. As soon as I began placing them in the tart shell, I realized that was a problem. They were not deep enough to fill even half of the crust. I put on a second layer, trying to stagger them a bit so they would all cook through, but even though the final result was beautiful, it still looked a bit skimpy. And the storebought crust? Well, I knew right away that it wouldn't be as good as homemade, but I don't have a food processor, and I simply was not in the mood to incorporate tablespoons and tablespoons of butter by hand. The Pillsbury crust tasted...acceptable, but I know it compromised the quality of the final dish. The final result was tasty, but nothing to write home about.
But, although this isn't the apple pie I want to be known for, I do plan to incorporate some of the ideas into my next apple pie experiment. For one, apples and ground cardamom are an amazing combination -- even better with a bit of lemon juice, which I impulsively squirted over the apples to balance out their sweetness. But the real find was the caramel sauce. Brushing it over the tart seemed a bit gratuitous, but it was perfect for pouring over big scoops of vanilla ice cream...or for eating by the spoonful, or for dipping your fingers in and licking them off when you think no one else is looking. I think more than half of the sauce vanished this way, and I was definitely not the only culprit! Best of all, it was super easy -- just butter, brown sugar, and heavy cream mixed together in a little pot and whisked over medium heat till thickened.
3/4 c. dark brown sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream
3 tbsp. butter
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and cook until it thickly coats the back of the spoon, whisking frequently. (This should take about ten minutes, and my sauce thickened up a bit more after it sat at room temperature.)
Although this recipe wasn't the resounding success I had hoped for, it tasted good, my guests like it, and I've found a simple sauce to keep forever. I think I'll put this one in the win column.