Photo: Tarte Tatin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 2/3 cups plain all-purpose flour, sifted
Caramel Apple Filling:
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 10 apples (recommended: Granny Smiths or Reine de reinette)
- 2 tablespoons sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
To make the pastry, let the butter soften to room temperature and put it into a mixer on low speed. Pulse for 2 seconds before adding the egg followed by the water. Mix for a few seconds and then add the salt and the flour, keeping 2 tablespoons aside to add later in case the dough is too sticky. Work fast because the gluten in the flour makes the dough go elastic.
Stop the mixer before the dough turns into a ball. Flatten the pastry and shape a circle about 6 inches wide. Place the pastry on a plate, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for 1 hour minimum to 24 hours. This lets the gluten relax and when you roll out the pastry it stays flat.
Caramel Apple Filling: Cut the butter into little bits and scatter on a 10-inch baking dish. Shake the sugar over it and add 2 tablespoons of water to keep it from crystallizing. Caramelize the sugar by placing the dish on a medium heat. Meanwhile, peel the apples, cut in 2 and remove the core. Cut them into 4 big pieces. Once the butter and sugar have caramelized take the pan off the heat. Place the pieces of apple vertically on top of the caramel in the baking tin, taking care to fill the gaps with more pieces so they stick together in a solid mass. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the apples. Put the dish back on a heat diffuser for 15 minutes at a medium heat until the caramel starts bubbling up through the apples.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll the pastry out and place over the apples folding it in at the edges. Make 3 or 4 holes with a knife and 1 in the middle to let steam out when baking. Bake for 20 minutes and then let it rest for 15 minutes. It is important that you do this otherwise the apples will fall apart when you turn it over. Take a dinner plate and put it over the baking tin. Turn it over. Slowly remove the baking tin.
Serve lukewarm with vanilla ice cream, heavy cream or whipped cream.
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By OK Let's Cook
Central OK
on February 23, 2010
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Have made this twice. I used a 10 inch cast iron skillet and since I don't have a "diffuser", just turned the heat to med-low and adjusted to achieve the simmer time. The apples are perfectly done and the tart holds it's shape. The flavor is perfect. It's a little tricky to turn with the heavy skillet, but it works! Granny Smith makes a more tart flavor; yellow delicious makes more sweet; I like to combine the two.
By npinsky_4273897
New York, NY
on September 20, 2009
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We made two tartes last night, and Patrick's won hands down over Julia Childs'. The only thing I did was add two tablespoons of sugar to the dough to make it sweet. Also, used golden delicious apples.
By leonard_mayer_9...
Bronx, NY
on December 26, 2007
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I bought a tarte tatin pan made by mauviel, 9-1/2 inch. I made apple, pear, plum, apricot and peach tarte tatin. The crucial point about recipe is timing. When you cook the sugar with butter, how do you know it is carmelizing? When the mixture first turns brown, either the sugar is carmelizing or the butter is burning. When it first turns brown, I stop the cooking and place the fruits in the pan with hot sugar. If I wait any longer, the mixture gets browner and the fruit gets mushier like apple sauce if you are using apples. Then I cook it until the hot sugar coats the fruits. Then I let cool. After cooling, I place the dough on top with 4-5 slits. I cook for about 20 minutes at 400F with 4 slits on top of crust. Then I let it cool for 15-60 minutes. After I turn it over, there might be excess liquid. The excess liquid I drain off and discard. So either you cook off the liquid which is water with some sugar, and take risk of overcooking the fruit, or you cook it less, leaving the fruit intact with a good bite but with excess liquid to drain off. It takes experience to decide the exact point when to stop cooking the sugar/butter and start adding the fruit. It also takes experience to decide the exact point to stop cooking the fruit layered in the sugar/butter before adding the crust. But depending on your decision the outcome will be determined.
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