Stu has been a fan of Tarte Tatin for many years. On a trip to Paris years ago he bought two sizes of specialized copper Tarte Tatin pans at the famous cook ware store Dehillerin. There’s a great story about how this amazing apple tart came to be: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarte_Tatin
Tarte Tatin
1 sheet puff pastry (thawed if purchased frozen)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths
Crème fraîche or sour cream
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
On a floured work surface, roll the puff pastry into a 12-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. Move to a plate and refrigerate while you work on the apples.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter and then sprinkle over the sugar and add the apples. Once the sugar begins to melt, adjust the heat so the juices bubble rapidly but don’t boil wildly. Cook and stir occasionally until juices are light brown and apples are tender when you poke them with a fork. This will take 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Piece by piece position the apples in two concentric circles in your baking dish (a cast iron skillet is fine; we use a 10-inch copper Tarte Tatin pan).
Take the pastry out of the fridge and position it on top, tucking it in and folding the edges in. Use a fork to prick the pastry in 5 places.
Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F, until the pastry is puffed and light golden. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake until the pastry is a deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes.
To unmold, place a serving plate over the skillet and quickly but carefully flip the pan. The tart will unmold onto the plate, and if a few apple slices stick to the pan, return them to the tart. Let cool at least 20 minutes before serving to allow the syrup to sink into the tart. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. You can offer a dollop of crème fraîche (or sour cream).
Controversial Tarte Tatin
This version is controversial because of the spices added. We find it fairly mild, see what you think! The Tatin sisters would probably not approve!
10 Granny Smith apples
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
Pinch of allspice
Pinch of ground clove
Pinch of nutmeg
2 sheets puff pastry (defrosted if frozen)
Crème fraîche or sour cream
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel, core and halve the apples. Reserve.
In a 12-inch nonstick skillet (or a Tarte Tatin pan if you have one), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook, swirling the mixture, until a deep caramel forms. Watch closely, this may take only 4 minutes.
Arrange the apples in the pan in concentric circles, nestling them against each other. If you have extra apples you can lay them on top (as they cook they will shrink down).
Return this pan to the stove. Cover with an inverted large steel bowl and cook over medium heat. In about ten minutes, wiggle the pan to make sure there’s enough liquid and to force the apples on top to slide down. Continue cooking for about another ten minutes, checking and pushing the apples together. Check with a fork—the apples should be tender and the liquid firming up.
Make the spice mix: combine cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, clove. Using a small strainer, sprinkle the spices over the top.
Position the pastry over the top and tuck it in around the edges. Using a fork or knife, poke about five holes on the top.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through. Begin checking at 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Cover the pan with a large plate and very carefully invert the tart onto the plate. Serve with crème fraîche or sour cream.
Smith-Madrone News 