Recipe: Broken Apple Tart

Of course, I have to admit that my cooking venture with the apples didn't start out as a tart; my original plan was to make dairy-free caramel apples for my co-workers, one of whom has a dairy allergy. But the caramel was too hard and became too brittle to bite into. After venting in frustration as my plans had gone so significantly awry, I still had apples to use up. Et, voila! An apple tart!

Tart:

• 1 pie crust, at room temperature
• 8 apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 2/3 cup caramel ice cream sauce

Streusel:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup cookie crumbs (from Nilla wafers or graham crackers)
• 1/2 ounce sliced almonds
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the pie crust into a false-bottomed tart pan (or a pie dish). Press crust into the bottom of the pan and up the sides; use a knife to trim excess dough.

In a large mixing bowl, combine apple slices and caramel sauce; pour into the crust.

In a small bowl, combine all of the streusel ingredients; sprinkle over the apples.

Place the tart pan onto a larger baking sheet because the caramel sauce seeps a bit, and bake for 50 minutes until top is golden and the apples are tender when pierced with a knife.

Let cool to room temperature, then try to serve it in slices. When it won't cooperate, simply scoop it up, place it on a serving dish, and offer it with ice cream or whipped cream... and no explanations of what its original incarnation was supposed to be!

Makes 8-10 servings.

This recipe was written by Peggy Lampman and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on Sept. 27, 2011.