Rustic Caramel Apple Tart

Crust
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp. sugar
2/3 cup butter (cold)
4 to 5 tbs. cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla
Combine all dry ingredients blending well. Cut in butter until you have fine crumbs. Next stir in cold water & vanilla just until you have a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface & roll out until you have about a 15 inch circle. Lay parchment paper onto a large flat baking sheet. Fold dough in half & then carefully transfer onto your parchment sheet. Unfold dough but crimp the edges to make a nice high edge for the tart so it will hold your filling. Next prepare your filling.

Filling
5 large apples ( tart baking apples like Granny Smith work best) peeled sliced & coated with lemon juice so they do not brown.
4 heaping tbs. sugar
2 tbs. flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Stir together dry ingredients & then dump into apple slices. Toss apple slices with dry mix until well coated. Arrange this mixture into your crust. Top with following caramel sauce.

Sauce
36 unwrapped caramels
2 tbs. water

2 tbs butter
3 tbs heavy cream
Melt caramels in the water in a deep heavy saucepan. Once melted stir in butter & heavy cream & cook over medium high heat stirring until you get a nice caramel sauce about 6 minutes or so. Pour this over your apples that are already in the crust. Bake the tart at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Check at 20 minutes & if edges of tart are dark brown cover them with foil to prevent them from burning. If not dark brown you do not need to do this step. Position tart in center wrack to help prevent the crust from over browning. Once baked remove from oven & let tart cool. Slide tart onto a dish that you wish to serve from. Slide parchment paper out from under tart after you have tart on the serving platter. Top each serving with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you so desire.