Apple Fudge Tart (Official Caramel Apple Slice Attempt #1)

Once upon a time, The East Gate Café in Tavistock, Devon served a wonderful dish called a Caramel Apple Slice. Unfortunately the café changed hands and stopped making it several years ago, and ever since I've been on a never ending search for a decent replica - you may remember when I mentioned my last attempt at making it way back in November. It did not go well.

There are no recipes for it on the internet, so I'll just keep on experimenting until I get it right. The only almost perfect example that I've found is in Morrisons' bakery, so I'm tempted to just ask them how they prepare the topping. It's meant to be a thick, fudgy layer but I just can't get it right.

Anyway, this is official attempt number two, and you might have guessed that it was a failure. Not a complete one, though, because it still tastes pretty good. There wasn't nearly enough fudge to cover the top for starters, but even if there had been it wouldn't have worked because the fudge solidifed a little too much on cooling.

I think this would make a good afternoon snack to go with a coffee and a catch up with a friend. It's quite easy to put together, too, so you could make it in a hurry or whilst preoccupied with other things. I buy ready-made pastry, but if you want to make your own then obviously go right ahead.

Ingredients

• 500g Pack Ready-Rolled Shortcrust Pastry
• 4 Braeburn Apples
• 250g Pack Fudge Pieces
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Cornflour

Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
• Peel, core and chop the apples and place them in a saucepan with enough water to cover the base.
• Place the pastry inside a pie dish and run a rolling pin over the edges to cut off any excess pastry. Prick the base in several places with a fork, cover with baking parchment and baking beans and place in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Put the saucepan of apples over a low heat and cover for 5-10 minutes until the apples have softened. 
• Drain the apples, return them to the pan and stir in the sugar and cornflour.
• Remove the parchment and baking beans, then pour the apples into the dish. Make sure they are spread evenly.
• Remove the fudge from the packet (I had the lovely task unwrapping all 22 individually wrapped fudge pieces) and spread it around on top of the apples so that the pieces are evenly distributed.
• Place the tart in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the fudge has melted.

I made this on Friday with the Smarties Cookies and my Chocolate & Banana Loaf Cake. The loaf cake goes down so easily that Im ashamed to say that I've devoured pretty much all of it myself. The Smarties Cookies were eaten almost in one sitting by my male housemates while watching the football on Saturday - at least I know they were tasty!

Keep your eyes peeled for the Banana Peanut Butter Muffins that I'll be making imminently!