Sounds finicky, but really it’s awfully simple. Pastry, apples and caramel sauce. Made extra simple if you happen to have puff pastry in the freezer already.

Pastry that, say, you bought from the overpriced and (often) understocked Northern Mart in your tiny community, then took it home only to find it was EIGHTEEN months expired!* Is that even legal? Turns out neither the taste nor texture is affected in any way. Which just makes me more suspicious.

Oh, of course it would be far superior to make puff pastry from scratch but Annie’s crazy and really does have an addiction to creating everything de la casa, and well, we don’t. We just want tart.**

Apple Mosaic Salted Caramel Tart
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen (who writes a much more detailed account of how to construct the perfect tart. But how far wrong can you go with apples, pastry and caramel? If you are likely to go far wrong then head to her site for the more detailed, original version.)
Makes 8 large or 12 smaller servings

400g (14-ounce) block puff pastry, defrosted in fridge overnight
3 large or 4 medium apples
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, cut into knobs

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Roll out pastry to fit to large (baking paper lined or lightly greased) baking pan.

Peel and halve apples. Remove cores and stems and slice thinly (about 2mm thick) with knife or mandolin.

Arrange apple slices over pastry, leaving a border around the edge, overlapping the next slice over about half of the one before it. Continue in a concentric rectangular pattern until you reach the middle.

Sprinkle over the sugar and the small knobs of butter. Bake for 30 minutes until the edges are brown and the apples begin to colour. They should be soft but dry to the touch. Deflate any puffs in the puff pastry with a sharp knife.

Meanwhile, about 20 minutes into baking time, make salted caramel sauce (recipe below).

When tart has finished baking, brush with caramel, including the border. Return tart to oven for 5 to 10 minutes until the caramel begins to bubble. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut into squares and enjoy cold or slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream.

Salted caramel sauce
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or salted, but then ease up on the sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt (or half as much table salt)
2 tablespoons heavy cream (or coconut cream as I did)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the sugar; this takes about 3 minutes. Cook the liquefied sugar until it becomes a nice copper colour. Don’t stir, just rotate the pan slightly to get an even bronzing. Take saucepan off the heat and add butter and salt, stirring until incorporated. Add cream (coconut milk) and return to the stove. Cook, stirring constantly, until you have a lovely bronzed caramel syrup; just another minute or two.

*Yes I used that expired pastry to make this tart and I’m not going to pretend otherwise..
**Or course there will come a day when I can’t resist trying my hand at making puff pastry from scratch, but not while I’m living in a place where butter is $7 a pound. That’s just silly.