Caramel Apple "Quesadillas"

In my menu planning for the party, my goal was to come up with tasty and unique finger foods with autumn flavors. Riiiight... let me just reach in my back pocket for that, right!? Well, everyone loves apples this time of year, especially in New England, and caramel is such a nice pairing. Well, I was NOT about to make 20+ caramel apples. Too messy, too big, too much effort.

Instead I thought of using tortillas as a great delivery device. They have a mild sweet flavor and make for great hors d'oerves wrappers. The vision in my mind was delicious apple chunks in a semi-solid caramel bed, served in cute little tortilla triangle. I came so close, yet so far! The apples I cooked were delicious, though not particularly crisp. The caramel sauce was really tasty and coated the apples perfectly as everything cooked in the oven, but, um, it never set back up. Which means I have very goofy, very drippy caramel sauce oozing out of my wimpy, not crispy tortilla triangles.

Everyone liked them, but it was no happy finger food. I would make the sauce again, but not for this application. I think I would have been better off chopping the caramel candies and interspersing them in the apple before baking. Don't know that it would work better, but it can't be worse!

This picture is sadly accurate... they were not the prettiest thing I've ever made!


Caramel Apple Quesadillas

• 4 Apples
  
• 2 Tbsp. Butter
  
• 1/2 Tbsp. Cinnamon
  
• 1 tsp. Ground Ginger
  
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves
  
• 1/2 tsp. Allspice
  
• Dash of Nutmeg
  
• 2/3 C. Caramel Sauce (recipe to follow)
  
• 4 Small Tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
   
2. Core the apples and chop into small pieces.
   
3. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add in apple pieces and stir to coat. Add in all the spices and cook for about 5-10 minutes until the apples are just softened.
   
4. On a large cookie sheet, lay down 2 tortillas. Divide the apples evenly between the two, spreading the mixture out over the surface area of the tortilla.
   
5. Spoon the caramel sauce over each batch of apples, drizzling evening.
   
6. Place the remaining tortillas over the two loaded ones, and smoosh down a little. Bake in the oven for just about 5 minutes.
   
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool. (With any luck, your caramel will set up and not be so gooey!)
   
8. Gently slice "quesadillas" into thin triangles. I found using a serrated knife worked best as it was such a mess; pressing down on the dish only oozed out the sauce.

Caramel Sauce

• 18 Brachs Milk Maid Caramel Candies
  
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Heavy Cream
  
• i tsp. Milk

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, add in unwrapped candies, cream and milk.
   
2. Stir the caramels until they melt and combine with the liquids. You will want to stir continually/ very often.
   
3. Use for whatever recipe you want, and then clean pan quickly. This stuff gets REAL sticky in the pan real fast! Would be excellent over ice cream or apple pie.