This Caramel Apple Tart with Cinnamon Streusel Topping is epic! Layers of caramel sauce and sliced apples are piled high in a sweet tart crust and topped with a cinnamon variation of my favorite, go-to streusel!
Soften your butter in a stand mixer or let it sit out at room temperature for an hour or so.
Put sifted powdered sugar and softened butter in stand mixer with the paddle attachment, and cream them (starting on low so the powdered sugar doesn’t get everywhere). This will get silky smooth.
Add eggs one at a time (it helps if the eggs are room temperature), it might look a little scary in the bowl, but don’t worry, the eggs will incorporate at their own pace.
Add flour and kosher salt to bowl of stand mixer and start on low to cut in our creamed mixture, be patient and trust the process. What we’ve got here is sucrée!
This dough still needs to be handled with care and love, because it still has gluten in it which you don’t want to overdevelop.
Take your sucrée out and divide it into however many packets you want, wrap them in cling wrap and chill them for at least two hours. You can also freeze them already rolled out!
Make the Streusel:
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium low until combined. Chill in the refrigerator at least an hour but up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 2 months.
Make the apple filling:
Peel and core apples. Cut in half and slice apples about 1/16th inch thick. I use a mandoline to make them even. This method also has the bonus factor that it is way quicker! I usually slice them straight into the bowl in which I will mix, because you know how I feel about excess dishes!
Toss together apples, sugar, brown sugar, and spices.
Pour into a sauce pan set over medium heat. Cook at a lower heat until the apples begin to release their moisture. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper that over laps the edges or plastic wrap.
Once the apples are crisp-tender meaning they still have a little crunch to them but they have softened. Whisk together the water and cornstarch in a bowl. Pour into the cooking apple mixture while stirring, so that it doesn't have a chance to clump. This will thicken the mixture immediately. Continue to boil for one minute to cook the starch. Pour onto prepared baking sheet and cool in the refrigerator. The idea is to cool them quickly so they don't get any softer. You will add these cooled apples to the tart.
Assemble the Tart:
Roll out the tart dough to about an 1/8th an inch thick, and chill again before lining tart pan. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line the tart pan with the dough, filling in any cracks with scraps. Use the edge of the tart pan to cut away any excess. You can also use a rolling pin to make a perfect edge. Chill 30 minutes, so that the crust doesn’t shrink. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until the surface looks matte and is just being to brown. You can blind bake it with weights but I find it isn’t necessary with my sucrée recipe when it is treat with love and care. Any brisée or pie dough will need to be lined with parchment and weighted down with baking beans or weights or rice. I made a video tutorial on blind baking pie crusts to help with this!
Pour the caramel sauce into the still-warm crust and spread it out. If your crust is cool, warm the caramel sauce a little to make it easier to spread evenly without ruining the crust.
Layer in the apples like I did in the video to make even layers or just pour them right on in!
Crumble [an excessive amount of] streusel all over the top until all the apples are covered.
Bake in preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the filling has begun to bubble around the edges, the tart shell is a nice deep golden brown and the streusel is a light to medium golden brown. Remember that everything except the streusel is already cooked, so it’s not that serious!
Video
Notes
Flavor Tips - It’s all in apples: choose your apples wisely. You want to choose firm, fresh apples that don’t have a tendency to get mealy (I’m lookin’ at you, Macintosh?). I also prefer apples that are on the tart side because of all the caramel they are going to be hanging with. Think Honeycrisp, gala, crispin, crimson crisp, or ginger gold.Taste your fruit for sweetness. You might want more or less sugar depending on the ripeness of the apples. Be sure you taste before you add the cornstarch, or you will get a mouthful of cornstarch!Technique - Don’t skip pre-cooking the apple filling or you will have a soupy mess instead of a sliceable, show-stopping Caramel Apple Tart. Variations - You could make this in a Pâte Brisée crust instead of a Pâte Sucrée crust, a baked graham cracker crust, or even a store-bought crust. You could add some different warming spices based on your preferences! Homemade Apple Pie Spice Mix would be lovely!Storage - You can make the crust and streusel up to one month in advance and freeze them! You can also make the caramel sauce in advance. I usually make a large batch so that I am never without! Alternatively, refrigerate leftovers tightly wrapped for up to seven days.