Autumn calls for comfort food and the first thing that comes to mind is an apple based dessert. Let it be apple pie, apple crumble, apple spice cake, toffee apples… they all bring along a warm and cosy feeling. So I knew I wanted to include baked apples in this dessert. I also couldn’t create a recipe inspired by Shay & Blue’s Salt Caramel fragrance without including caramel.
After all the apple picking and walks through the park, this month’s dessert recipe is a Salted Caramel Apple Tart. Is it me or does this actually rhyme? I chose to do a tart because it’s lighter than a pie and gives you even more of an excuse to drench it in salted caramel. It has a layer of homemade vanilla apple sauce and is topped with thinly sliced apples and cinnamon. When testing out this dessert recipe it was pouring rain outside and trust me the scent of baking apples and caramel was just so dreamy. It definitely brightens up a miserable rainy afternoon!
I’m always trying to find new ways to make desserts “healthier” for you (and me!). It turns out that this Salted Caramel Apple Tart is vegan and only uses natural sweeteners. So how is it possible to make a salted caramel sauce without butter? Whilst browsing countless recipes on Pinterest, I stumbled upon Livia’s Kitchen 3 Ingredient Salted Caramel Sauce. It’s probably one of the best dairy-free salted caramel sauces that I’ve tried. To my complete delight, the secret ingredient is coconut milk! Don’t worry though, the sauce doesn’t have a coconut taste to it at all. When mixed with coconut sugar and a hint of salt, it tastes just like real salted caramel. It fits perfectly with the apple tart and is highly addictive. You have been warned!
Salted Caramel Apple Tart
Serves 6
Ingredients
Apple Tart
• 1 shortcrust pastry sheet
• 4 apples
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1/2 tsp stevia
• 1/2 lemon
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
Salted Caramel Sauce from Livia’s Kitchen
• 1 can coconut milk (400ml)
• 1.5 cups coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 210 degrees.
2. Peel and roughly cut two apples into cubes. Place into a saucepan.
3. Add water, lemon, stevia and vanilla pod (make sure it’s split in half with seeds scraped out) into the saucepan. Mix well to ensure apples are well coated.
4. Heat the apples over medium heat and allow to simmer for 15 – 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Remove vanilla pod and pan from heat. The apples should now be very soft. Transfer the mixture into a blender and purée until smooth (or into small chunks if you prefer to have a thicker consistency).
6. Grease a 25cm tart tin. Roll out the pastry and line the tin with it. Using a fork make several little holes in the pastry.
7. Add the apple purée to the pastry and spread evenly.
8. Thinly slice two apples and add arrange pieces in a spiral configuration on the tart.
9. Sprinkle some cinnamon and coconut oil over the tart and place in oven for 30-35 minutes. When the surface turns slightly golden, the tart is ready.
10. For the salted caramel, place the coconut milk, coconut sugar and sea salt into a saucepan.
11. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir regularly for 20-25 minutes until it reaches the desired consistency. You can find more detailed instructions on this salted caramel sauce here.
12. Once the apple tart has cooled to room temperature, serve with salted caramel sauce.
Bon appétit!
Disclaimer
All images are my own.