This chocolate caramel apple tart, made with a minimal amount of ingredients, is both paired-back and bursting with flavor. It boasts a bittersweet bed of dark chocolate and juicy sweet apples tossed in caramel sauce, all baked to golden perfection inside some flaky puff pastry.
Let’s bake, friends!
This post is sponsored by Yes! Apples.
Some Materials You’ll Need:
- Quarter sheet pan (if you have one, if not—half or full size works great)
- Various sized mixing bowls
- Medium saucepan (if making caramel sauce yourself)
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Spatula
- Baking non-stick spray
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Cooling rack
Prepping & Handling the Puff Pastry
Like any pastry dough, you want to keep it as cold as possible throughout all stages of the bake! So let it thaw for about 45 minutes to get it to a rollable consistency. If you let it sit out too much longer than that, it might stick to your counter as you roll. Just pop the puff pastry in the fridge for 15 minutes if it feels sticky!
Also be sure to gently roll it out, as you don’t want to break the seams at the folds. You want this to be one large, cohesive piece of dough without any cracks where chocolate or caramel might seep out.
Don’t skip the step where you put it in the fridge for 15 minutes prior to baking! This will ensure your dough goes in cold for the bake, resulting in some extra flaky layers.
Making the Caramel Sauce
If you’re taking the extra step to make your own caramel sauce (very worth it, I promise)—check out my recipe here! It’s super simple and comes together quick. Just make sure you do this step first so it has time to cool down and thicken to the right consistency! You want it to be like a thicker, yet still slight runny peanut butter.
Using store-bought? Make sure to pop in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high for about 15-30 seconds (depending on the brand) to give yourself the right consistency. You should be able to easily coat the apples, not struggle with trying to toss them.
Refer to my caramel sauce recipe for plenty of tips on getting that caramel sauce just right!
Assembling the Chocolate Caramel Apple Tart
See the photos below for a step-by-step walkthrough of how each part of the assembly/bake should look! Again, I have a quarter sheet pan which worked perfectly for this recipe. So if you’re using a half or full baking sheet, yours might look a little different and obviously won’t cover the entire surface.
It will still bake the same, don’t worry. Just bake in the middle of whatever baking sheet you happen to have and make sure to do so on the middle rack of the oven (to avoid the crust baking faster than the apples and burning).
High-Quality Apples = Best Possible Flavor
With a recipe containing rather minimal ingredients, you want to make sure each one is as high a quality as possible! There’s not much room to hide with this one, so really go for the best apples you can find—like Yes! Apples! I used a mix of their Pink Lady and EverCrisp variety (feel free to mix and match here) for this apple tart. You’ll also notice I left the skin on—which you can can totally do as well or peel them, baker’s choice.
I loved the additional color the apple skin gives to the final product, not to mention all those nutrients you get from it. Again, do what feels right to you!
Some Yes Apples! Love
Their EverCrisp variety is so juicy and crisp—you’ll fall in love, just like I did (rather quickly I might add). Don’t think I forgot about those Pink Lady apples now, they’re just as crunchy and crisp, with flavors close to that of a golden delicious. So yummy!
Grab some Yes! Apples to take your apple tart to the next (and absolute best) level, friends! Click here to find them at a store near you or click here to buy directly from their website.
No need to wait till Fall to enjoy some caramel apple-goodness! Go grab some of those tasty Yes! Apples and get to baking, friends. Be sure to tag me over on Instagram if you make this apple tart. I love to see what you’re baking and share it with my followers!
Happy baking!
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Chocolate Caramel Apple Tart
- Prep Time: 30 Min.
- Chill Time: 30 Min.
- Cook Time: 30 Min.
- Total Time: ~1 Hour. 30 Min.
- Yield: (1) ~12x9in. Tart
Description
This chocolate caramel apple tart boasts a bittersweet bed of dark chocolate and juicy sweet apples tossed in caramel sauce, all baked to golden perfection inside some flaky puff pastry.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet store-bought frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 3 medium apples, cored & thinly sliced (~385g after slicing) / I used a mix of EverCrisp and Pink Lady from Yes! Apples
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 3/4 cup homemade caramel sauce (200g) / or store-bought
- 1 bar of dark chocolate (70%), coarsely chopped (3.5oz, 100g) — don’t use morsels or chips!
- Heavy whipping cream (for brushing over crust)
- Optional toppings: additional chocolate to melt & drizzle overtop, powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- If you’re making the caramel sauce yourself, do that first! I’ve got a quick and easy recipe here you can use. You want to make sure your caramel has had time to cool and thicken before using.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out your thawed sheet of puff pastry into a ~13x9in. rectangle and place on a parchment-lined quarter baking sheet (half/full sheet also works just fine). Leaving a good 2 inch. border around the outside, poke some holes all around the middle of the pastry with a fork to allow steam to escape during the bake (10 pokes should do). Then, pop it in the fridge to keep cold while you prepare the apples.
- Toss your thinly sliced apples (skins on or off, doesn’t matter—I liked the color they give) in a medium sized bowl with the salt. Then pour in your caramel sauce and toss with a spatula until evenly coated.
- If using store-bought caramel sauce: make sure to heat it in a heat-safe bowl in the microwave on high for about 15-30 seconds so that it’s somewhat runny (but not too much). This ensures you’re able to easily toss the apples.
- Take out your puff pastry from the fridge, arrange your coarsely chopped chocolate into an even layer in the middle (leaving the border untouched), and then overlap your apples in 3 rows overtop (see photos above). You’ll have caramel sauce left in the bowl, keep this in the fridge to drizzle overtop after the bake (optional).
- Fold the sides of your puff pastry border overtop the apples to form a crust. Place the entire tart (still on the baking sheet) into the fridge for 15 minutes to let the puff pastry firm back up before baking.
- Brush the crust with heavy whipping cream (~2 Tbsp.) and then bake in the middle rack of your oven at 400°F for 25-30 minutes or until desired browning of the crust (30 minutes was perfect for me).
- Let cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes and then carefully transfer to a separate rack to cool completely. Once cooled: drizzle with some extra melted chocolate, the remaining caramel sauce, or even dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Best enjoyed same-day, but will keep for 2 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- The reason you want to let your tart firm up in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking is to keep that buttery pastry cold. This results in the flakiest apple tart possible! Trust me.
- If your crust unfolds during the bake—don’t stress! Mine did too almost every time. It’s less about creating a crust (like a galette where it stays put), than it is about making sure all the ingredients stay inside the tart and don’t seep out during the bake.
Check out my other recipes with Yes! Apples:
- Apple Biscoff Cheesecake Bars
- German Apple Cake with Golden Figs
- Fresh Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- Apple and Almond Cream Galette
Looking for something else to bake?
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