The salted caramel trend is still going strong – and quite right too. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and consequently never really ate caramel much, but I adore salted caramel. I could eat it by the bucket.

I usually double the amount of salt in any recipe to make it more to my tastes, but left the amounts as they were quoted in the recipe for this one.

I think my caramel could be a smidge darker, but overall I was quite pleased – everything was cooked through properly and it stayed together, which I count as a success!

Recipe from Delicious Magazine

Ingredients

• 8 braeburn apples
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 50g unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
• 375g block all-butter puff pastry
• Plain flour for dusting

Method

1. Peel, core and halve the apples. Don’t worry if they turn brown – you won’t notice in the finished tart. Put the sugar in a 20cm ovenproof frying pan (measured across the base) with 50ml water, then melt the sugar slowly over a low heat. Once the sugar has melted, turn up the heat and bubble for 5 minutes or so to give a golden caramel (don’t let it get too dark – see above right).
2. Take the caramel off the heat immediately and stir in the butter – it will foam quite vigorously. Sprinkle the caramel with the sea salt (it will melt into it), then arrange the apple halves on top, cut-side up, so they fill the pan – slice any leftover apple into wedges to fill in the gaps (the apples will shrink as they cook). Put the pan back over a gentle heat, then cook for 5 more minutes. Turn the heat off and let the apples cool completely.
3. Heat the oven to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a pound coin, then lay over the cooled apples in the pan. Trim the pastry using the edge of the pan as a guide, then carefully tuck it inside the edge around the apples, making sure they don’t move. Bake for 30 minutes until dark golden and puffed. Remove from the oven, stand for 5 minutes, then carefully invert the tart onto a serving plate.