The Oregon Louisiana Chef

A few weeks ago, my neighbor Cassie brought over a slice of this amazing homemade apple tart to me when my husband was away on a trip. I was completely blown away by how delicious it was. It was buttery, delicately spiced, and the crust was delicious. I found out it wasn’t made the way a normal tart is. The apples go in the bottom, the crust on top, and once it comes out of the oven, it’s flipped right side up. I am ashamed to admit it, but I actually ate that piece of tart as dinner (what can I say, I was in the midst of canning and needed something fast anyway).

When she brought over a whole tart the next week just for my husband and I, I begged her for the recipe. (Again, we ate it for dinner). When I found out how easy it was, I was honestly shocked.

I’ll put it out there, I am terrible at making pie crust. I normally can’t do it to save my life, and any crust I make comes out either tougher than a shoe and tasteless, or undercooked and tasteless. I finally found a pie crust recipe that I can manage to make that tastes decent, but my problem is in the rolling out phase. I always somehow overhandle the dough, despite my best efforts. This recipe is a DREAM for the crust challenged. The beauty is that since the tart gets flipped, you don’t really see that much crust, ergo, you do not have to stress about rolling it properly, crimping it beautifully, or doing some Martha Stewart crazy crust cutout with maple leaves. That takes the pressure off, and ergo, I don’t overwork the crust to get it perfect.

So here is the recipe (and for anyone who avoids butter, you might want to scroll past this post):

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1-2 vanilla beans (optional, but really do make the dish)
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2-2 1/2 apples of your choice (peeled, cored and sliced)
1 store bought single pie crust, or single crust recipe of your own

**Note** You may either cook the entire dish in a cast iron skillet (Cassie’s method), or do as I did, cook in a pot and then transfer to a pie pan. If you cook in a skillet, ignore my instructions on transfering.

1. Melt entire stick of butter over medium heat, and add sugar. Scrape the seeds out of your vanilla beans and add these to the mixture, as well as the actual vanilla pods. Cook until sugar is slightly browned, thickened, and bubbling. (7-10 minutes).

2. Pick out the vanilla pods and add your apples, cinnamon, and cloves to the sugar mixture. Cook the apples until slightly softened, but still have some firmness. I cooked mine about 5 minutes.

3. If you are cooking in a skillet, take the pan off of the heat, let it cool slightly, then transfer to the fridge for an hour. If you cooked in a pot, transfer the mixture to a pie pan and put the pan in the fridge for an hour.

4. If you are making your crust, this would be the time to make your crust and let it firm up in fridge while the caramel and apples are cooling. If using a store crust, follow the instructions on the package and let it thaw.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place your rolled out crust on top of your caramel apple mixture, and gently pat down over the apples. If any crust is draping over, just slightly tuck the ends back towards the center. Bake until the crust is nicely browned. I put my oven timer on 40 minutes and this worked nicely for me.

6. After you pull the tart out of the oven, let it cool for about 10-15 minutes. With as much finesse as possible, flip the tart onto the plate of your choice.

And that’s it! The caramel makes a lovely shiny glaze for the entire tart, and the crust is rustic looking and pretty. It’s the perfect fall dessert.

Click here for finished tart

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