Tarte Tatin
This is a classic French Dessert. Apples, Caramel and Pastry, can’t go wrong with that! Specially in the fall they are very few things that can beat spiced cooked apples. The caramel goes in first, then the apples and then the pastry and it is all inverted before serving. I used some candied hazelnuts to decorate, they are fairly simple to make but look so chic on cakes and dessert.
You can use a short crust pastry or puff pastry for this dessert, I went for a puff pastry. The apples need to be firm and packed in tight. And the slices need to be thick, so nothing thinner than a quarter like we will do in this recipe. I used Gala apples, but have also had success with Fuji and Honey crisp.
I love going apple picking in the fall. Whenever I go I act like I have never seen an apple before in my life! I want to pick all of them off the trees and take them home! And every single time I end up with more apples than I know what to do with. But It always works out because I get to put lovely things like a Tarte Tatin in the oven and have my whole home smell like heaven.
Total Time:
Prep time 30 mins
Baking time 40 mins
Cooling time 10 mins
Total time 1hr 20 mins
Serves 8*
Equipment:
8 Inch square baking pan
Heavy based pan
12 -14 Toothpicks
Ingredients:
6 to 8 Firm Apples
Caramel Sauce
100 g sugar
50 g butter
1 vanilla Pod or 2 Tsps good Vanilla Extract
1 flower Star Anise
1 Tsp Cinnamon
Pastry
8 oz store bought puff pastry
Candied Hazelnuts for decoration
12 -14 hazelnuts
200 grams sugar
60 grams water
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 375 F
Prepare the apples by peeling, coring and slicing in quarters
Split the vanilla pod in half and scrape the seeds out
In a heavy based pan add the sugar
As the sugar turns an amber brown add the cubed butter
Add the vanilla, cinnamon and star anise to the caramel
Add the apples, stir and cook for about 10 mins
Meanwhile on a lightly floured surface roll out your pastry
Using the square pan as a template cut the pastry with an extra inch of room on all sides
Remove the apples from the caramel
Pour the caramel in your baking pan
Arrange the apples in the pan, Lay the slices tightly next to each other in one layer till the pan is full
Lay the pastry over the apples and tuck the pastry between the apples and side of pan
With a knife or fork poke some holes or make some slits in the pastry for the steam to escape
Bake for 30 -40 mins till pastry is golden brown
Wait 10 mins , put your serving platter over the pan and flip it quickly and confidently
For Candied Hazelnuts, pierce each nut with a toothpick
Bring the sugar and water to a boil till golden brown and caramel stage
Let the caramel cool down slightly and then dip the nuts in the caramel and hang off the side of your counter with some weight on it like a chopping board. Or you can tape the toothpicks to the counter
It will form long drips and dry that way, you can cut off the drips to the size you want, then gently pull out the tooth picks and place them on the dessert to decorate
Enjoy!
Some helpful tips:
Caramel is very hot! So be careful when you are around it.
Don’t wait more than 10 mins out of the oven to flip the dessert on to the platter, because if the caramel cools down too much it will stick to the pan
