Step 1

Step 1 Fill a large bowl with water and add the juice of your lemon. Then preheat your oven to 190C.

Step 3

Step 2 Cut your apples in half and remove the cores. Then cut them into quarters and pop them into the water making sure they’re fully covered. Some people peel the apples, but I didn’t and it helped them to keep their shape and not fall apart. This probably works better with sweet apples rather than sour ones.

Step 5

Step 3 Grab your pan and put in the sugar, water and butter. Cook over medium heat and stir as it starts to bubble away. Let it simmer away until it starts to turn a dark golden brown.

Step 7

Step 4 Remove from the heat, drain the apple quarters and dry them on some kitchen roll then add to the pan.

Step 9

Step 5 Return to the heat and let it bubble away. It will release the water from the apple but don’t worry if you keep it on medium heat it will thicken up. Make sure the apples are all coated in the caramel.

Step 11

Remember the caramel is ridiculously hot and will burn you.

Step 13

Step 6 Time to transfer the apples to your pan ready to bake. Make sure you arrange them neatly and fill in all the gaps. You can always cut some of the bigger apple pieces to make sure it all fits in.

Step 15

Step 7 Leave the apples to cool and take the pastry out of the fridge. Now I had two packets of pastry, just in case, and I’m glad I did. I removed the first packet from the fridge when I got started to bring it to room temperature. Unfortunately, this made the pastry difficult to manipulate and I how to throw it away. When I used the pastry straight out of the fridge it was a perfect consistency and allowed me to easily use it.

Step 17

Cut out the pastry so it’s 22cm in diameter and then place on top of the cooked apples tucking in any bits that stick out.

Step 19

Step 8 Put the dish in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is a lovely golden brown colour. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes then run a knife around the edge to loosen things up.

Step 21

And this is the tricky part. Make sure you’ve got a big enough serving plate at the ready because you now need to turn the tin upside down so the pastry sits on the plate. Remember, the caramel will still be hot and we don’t want any burns.

Step 23

Once you’ve done this you might find a couple of rogue apple pieces have moved or become dislodged from their original position. Use a pair of tongs so you don’t burn your fingers, and replace them so they look nicely uniform

Step 25

Step 9 Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or creme fraiche.