Hey folks! Today on “Try with me” I tried my hand at a Tarte Tatin. For all it’s fanciness in the name it’s actually a really simple recipe. You may or may not be asking yourself, “What’s a tarte tatin, Sana?” Well, I’m going to let you know…right now. According to my research and after having eaten it one time, I would describe it as a French pastry in which the fruit (usually apples) is caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is transferred to be baked in the oven. I remember the first time I saw a Tarte Tatin being made. When I was a kid I used to flip through channels trying to find someone cooking, honestly, I didn’t have much to work with since we didn’t have cable hahaha. PBS was pretty much my go to and that’s where I saw my first Tarte Tatin and I was instantly intrigued!! To go from the stove to the oven was new to me and it looked so fancy! It was that day I vowed to myself I would make a Tarte Tatin and I’m sure a few days later I promptly forgot about it. No matter because the beauty of the internet reminded me again and finally after so many years I decided to finally try it. And I can confidently say, I will be making it again and again because it is absolutely delicious 😁. I followed a recipe from New York Times Cooking, they’ve got all sorts of amazing recipes. But let’s get started with this recipe, shall we?
Ingredients:
- 6-8 Empire apples, peeled, cored and quartered
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 sheet puff pastry
Directions:
The most work you have to do is in the apples so you can imagine just how simple this recipe it is, but for all it’s simplicity it is still so delicious (so, fear not). I used Empire but NYT Cooking recommended Braeburn or a mix of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith. Gala’s are pretty sweet so they worked for me. To prepare your apples peel them, cut them in quarters and then core them. I used a 12″ cast iron skillet for my Tarte Tatin and 8 apple fit into it nice, so if you use a more standard 10″ cast iron skillet then I think 6 apples could work nicely. But keep a few apples on hand, just in case. At this point you can preheat your oven to 375 F.
The NYT Cooking’s recipe instructed to do this a day in advance and let the apples sit in the fridge overnight to reduce the amount of liquid in the tart (You don’t want liquid-y tart). I, myself, was not about to wait a day to eat this tart so I just stored them in the fridge for a bit while I prepped everything else. We also happen to store our excess apples (you know, the ones that don’t fit in the fruit bowl) in the fridge so those fridge stored ones may have helped. In the mean time you can start with the next step prepping your skillet. You want to use a pan that can go from the stove to the oven so I automatically turned my attention to my cast iron skillet. But you can easily use stainless steel or even a non-stick sauté pan with an oven safe handle. A 10 inch pan is recommended but I got away with using a 12 inch so I wouldn’t worry about it, just use what you have 😊 To prep spread butter all over bottom and sides of skillet. Then sprinkle the sugar evenly over the bottom. I used a brown and white sugar but you can get away with using just 2/3 cup of one. I just really like the richness of brown sugar so I decided to mix both.
Now you can start adding in the chilled apples. Start with a fairly round piece right in the middle and then you can circle slices of apple around the center piece. Keep the pieces upright and close to each other so they can lean on one another for support. They’ll look like petals of a flower. Well, they should. Mine sort of did…I made it work, okay! Let’s not forget this was my first time making this. After baking it looked much better 😅 Next, its time to turn your attention to the puff pastry. I kept my puff pastry in the freezer up until about 5-10 minutes before I needed it. I let it thaw enough to become pliable. When it was soft enough I rolled it out to about 1/8 inch thick and then using a bowl that was just big enough to cover the apples I cut a circle out. Cover the apples fully and tuck in the pastry around the sides so most of the apple is covered. Before you get too excited and pop this right in the oven there is still one very important step! The cooking starts outside of the oven. On a medium heat let the sugar start to caramelize. You want to cook until golden-brown juices start bubbling around the edges, about 3 minutes. If it is too liquid-y you can spoon some out. Continue cooking and if needed turn up the heat a bit and let it simmer away for at most 10 minutes. Then into the oven it goes!
Oven time has arrived. Can you believe how quickly it came! Unfortunately, it doesn’t leave quite that fast you’ll have to wait just a little while for it to bake. Let it bake for 45-50 minutes, until the puff pastry is golden and firm. It’s going to smell amazing but you must restrain yourself and allow the tarte to rest at least 5 minutes until it’s cool enough to flip onto a plate. Yup, I said flip. So acrobatic, wow. Much gymnastics. Now, while it’s resting you may notice there is still some liquid around the sides. If it’s just a little don’t worry about it, it’s just the caramel. But if it’s thin and there is a lot you don’t want that there when you flip. Don’t worry it’s an easy fix! I found I had too much liquid so I spooned some of it out and then put it on the stove on high heat for about 5 minutes and reduced and thickened the caramel.
Now, onto the flipping! I like the flipping part of this dessert, you get to reveal the surprise of the apple arrangements after all the baking and addition of caramel cooking. You don’t know what you’re getting until its flipped 🤩 Make sure the skillet is cool enough to touch and place a plate that is big enough to cover the whole opening to prevent spilling. Then in a quick motion just flip over. It’s a little easier said than done. I’d never done this before so I really had to psyche myself up, hahaha. I already thought this skillet was heavy so flipping it seemed daunting. But after a few whispered affirmations I just flipped! Never have I made myself more proud in a tarte flipping situation.
Flip just like this guy on MasterChef, but your tarte will be less burnt looking. If you have any stray apple pieces just gently pick them up with your fingers or a spatula and rearrange on the pastry. Oooh, it looks so good!! And I’m telling you it tastes as good as it smells and looks! Cut it into wedges and serve by itself or with some ice cream. I ate it on it’s own and wow, wow it was good. I know I keep saying that but it’s true! The apples are really the star of the show because it’s such a simple dish. When you eat it fresh the apples are warm and soft and just melt in your mouth. The puff pastry is such a good base because it soaks up the caramel really nicely but remains firm and flaky, to me, it was a little reminiscent of a baklava (A sugar syrup soaked filo dough pastry).
Be sure to check out the original recipe of this Tarte Tatin on the New York Times Cooking page!
Apple Tarte Tatin
Ingredients
- 6-8 Large Empire apples peeled, cored and quartered
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 1 sheet puff pastry
Instructions
- Day before you plan to make the Tarte Tatin peel, core and cut apples into quarters. Half one apple to use in the middle (quarter the other half). Store in fridge until ready to use. (Or use fridge-stored apples) 8 Apples is better for 12 inch cast iron skillet
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Spread butter on bottom and sides of 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet (or any other oven-safe pan).
- Sprinkle sugars evenly over bottom of pan.
- Arrange apples on bottom of pan. First put a circular cut piece in middle then arrange rest of the slices around in a circle. Place them upright and close to one another so they can lean on each other for support. Keep arranging until at the edge of pan.
- Allow puff pastry to thaw until pliable and roll out onto flour lined surface until 1/8 inches thick. Dust off excess flour and cut into circle big enough to cover apples.
- Place puff pastry over apples and tuck into sides of apples, pushing apples together.
- On the stove on medium heat start to caramelize the sugars. Allow to cook for about 3 minutes until golden-brown juices begin to bubble around the edges. If juices rise too much, spoon out excess. Continue cooking until the juices are darker brown and smell caramelized, no more than 10 minutes. Transfer to oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until pastry is golden brown and firm.
- Take out of the oven and let it cool at least 5 minutes until cool enough to flip. (If there is too much liquid at this point it can be spooned out and then reduced on the stove. On high heat bring to a simmer and allow it to reduce for 5-10 minutes until thicker.)
- To flip, place a plate larger than opening and turn out onto serving dish. If any apples remain on skillet, gently remove with finger or spatula and rearrange on pastry.
- Serve immediately in wedges by itself or with ice cream.
- Enjoy!
Notes
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