• Make pastry crust. In a medium bowl combine flour, salt, and sugar.
• Using your fingers cut in the butter until no pieces larger than a pea remain. This takes minute. Just get it nice and mealy with no big chunks of butter.
• Pour in the buttermilk, stir with a wooden spoon just until it comes together.
• Form dough into two discs, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 45 minutes.
• Make caramel. Melt 1 cup of sugar over medium low heat. Don’t stir the sugar, just let it melt, occassionally pushing on it with the back of a spoon to help the sugar on top get to the bottom. As it gets more melted you can stir it a bit to help get all the chunks out.
• When the sugar is melted and nice and caramel colored, whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time. It will bubble vigorously, so be careful.
• Once all the butter is incorporated add the salt and vanilla.
• Remove caramel from heat and slowly, slowly whisk in the heavy cream. It will bubble even more vigorously than the butter.
• Return pot to heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until it reaches 230°F on a candy thermometer or alternately just cook it at the simmer for about a minute. Strain into a bowl or jar and allow to cool.
• Heat oven to 450°F.
• Now to assemble the apples. In a bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and clove.
• Peel the apples and rub them with lemon to keep them from turning brown. Cut about 1/4″ off the bottom so they sit flat, and then core them with a melon baller, creating a nice little cavity for filling.
• Mix the chopped hazelnuts and dried cherries in a bowl and stir in 5 tablespoons of your caramel sauce. There will be caramel sauce left over. Oh no! Oh wait. That’s ok.
• Roll the apples to coat the outside in your spiced sugar, and then fill them with the caramel, dried cherry, and hazelnut mixture. Reserve unused sugar & spice for sprinkling on top.
• Roll out your crust on a well floured surface to about 1/8″ thick, rotating it to keep it from/make sure it’s not sticking. Cut approximately 5×5″ squared of dough out for each of the 6 apples, rerolling if needed to get all the squares. Reserve the scraps for patching holes and making crafty little leaves and what not.
• Pull the corners of each square up around the apple and then bring up the folds and smoosh. Think of it as playdough that you’re molding around the apple. Try to get it as covered as you can with the square, and then patch as needed with the scraps. Don’t worry too much about the hole on top, you’re going to put crafty little leaves on that, remember?
• Once all your apples are happily wrapped in pastry dough & topped with whatever shaped or scraps you like, brush the tops lightly with heavy cream and sprinkle with some of the reserved sugar & spice.
• Bake apples 10 minutes at 450°F, and then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake an additional 30 minutes until cooked through.
• Top with lightly whipped homemade ginger crème fraîche & additional caramel sauce.

For homemade ginger crème fraîche

• Mix cream and buttermilk in a jar.
• Toss in the ginger, stir.
• Let mixture sit, uncovered, in a window sill for about two days.
• Stir occasionally and start tasting for tanginess.
• When mixture is thick & tangy as you please, strain out the ginger and store in the fridge.