Tarte Tatin

Frankly, I am surprised I haven't already put this on the blog, but if it's here, I didn't find it.

So I am constructing one today - and documenting the steps.

step by step, starting with the apples on the left and working clockwise towards the middle...YUM.

This lovely creation is credited to two sisters, the Tatin sisters, who created basically an upside down apple pie for their family hotel's restaurant. It became wildly famous, and now there are websites and documents and of course folklore about it. One bite, and you will know why. 


Note: This has to be served warm. The French won't eat it any other way. Me, I am not so picky ; b

• BASIC RECIPE
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• Preheat the oven to 350F. I am using a cast iron skillet. You could use anything that can go from stovetop (on a burner) to oven. You could make this in a shallow casserole, for instance (and vary the fruit across the tart?!).
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• Make a pie crust (recipe to follow), or use a premade that you like. Some recipes call for the pastry dough, and that works well also. The dough should be ¾-1in/2-2.5cm larger in diameter than the cooking dish. Roll on a floured board, to a thickness of ¹/₈in/3mm thick.

• Peel, core and roughly slice with skin on approximately 6 dessert apples (think tart and firm, like granny smith). You will need enough slices to cover the base of the skillet or ceramic pie dish.

• Place the cast iron skillet (or baking dish) on the burner and add 2½oz/70g sugar and 2½oz /70g unsalted butter. Slowly heat the mixture. you car making a thin caramel sauce.

• When the butter and sugar foam together, and begin to change to a golden color, quickly arrange the apple slices in a circular pattern. Then cook for a few minutes, allowing the caramel to bubble up and over the apples. (You can stir them but arrange them nicely again before adding the dough).

• When the caramel has started to turn a darker brown, cover the apples with the circle of pastry dough. Use a table knife to tuck the edge of the pastry down the side of the dish. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, to prevent it rising.

• Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is crisp. Remove from the oven and sit for 5 mins, then place a wide flat plate over the dish. Protect your arms and hands with oven gloves then flip the dish over so the tart falls onto the plate the right way up.

• I always serve with crème fraiche. You could also serve it with ice cream (maple would be nice) or of course, it will do just fine all on its own.

You could make many variations, right down to serving this with the sweeter crème Anglaise:  

Crème anglaise – heat 20 fl oz/600ml single cream and add slowly to a bowl containing 5 egg yolks mixed with 1 tsp vanilla essence and 1-2 tbsp of sugar, depending on taste. Whisk, then reheat in the pan. It will thicken but do not let the mixture boil. Remove from the heat, then strain through a sieve and serve warm in a jug.

Or substitute pears (not my fave) or add raisins, dried cranberries, a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon, etc.

Pie Crust recipe from Tarte Tatin lovers: www.tartetatin.org

 "Mix 3 cups (11 oz) unbleached flour with half-a-teaspoon salt.  Cut up 6 oz cold unsalted butter into small cubes.  Add to flour mixture.  Using old-fashioned potato masher such as the one pictured to right, mash flour-butter mixture until butter lumps have disappeared, and mixture has homogeneous sandy texture (3 to 5 minutes).  Add 3.5 to 4.5 oz iced water to mix.  Stir gently with spoon.  Sandy mixture should start aggregating.  Press it into a ball with your hands. Add more (or less) water as required to get ball to form.  If too sticky dust with flour. At that stage, place dough on floured board, and with palm of hand press small amounts of dough forward (away from you), about 2 to 3 oz at a time. (This operation, called 'fraisage', homogenizes the dough). Bring dough back into a ball and repeat once. Put dough ball into 1-gallon Ziploc bag and roll it out to get a disk that fills bag.  Chill for 30 to 60 minutes.  Bring back to floured board. Free dough by cutting Ziploc bag away and roll out to a 12-inch disk. Trim off excess dough. The disk is ready.  Notes:  the use of a potato masher is a tip that greatly improves the quality of your dough and simplifies its preparation. The use of a Ziploc bag, and the 'pre-rolling' of the dough will make the final rollout a cinch.