Tarte Tatin

At this time of year I'm always looking for apple recipes and in France what could be better than the classic Tarte Tatin?

One of my tarts as it emerged from the oven.

I like to make two tarts at once because our oven is double width. Often I'll do them rectangular rather than the usual round version. 

 
There seems to be no question that the Tatin sisters created the recipe in the 1880s and it became the signature dish of their hotel in Lamotte-Beuvron in the Sologne (the area between Blois and Orléans). They called the dessert Tarte Solognote. It seems to have been the famous Parisien restaurant Maxim's who dubbed it Tarte Tatin in the 1930s.

 One of my tarts flipped for cutting and serving.

The original version seems to have been made in a cast iron Dutch oven, in the same way as one makes damper, by putting the pot in the coals and covering the deep sided lid with coals too. The sisters used the still popular old Tourangelle apple variety Reine des Reinettes and the apples were not peeled. The tart is traditionally served warm, unaccompanied by custard, cream or ice cream. The original recipe contains no spices or anything other than apples, flour, butter and sugar.

Reine de reinette apple.

Traditionally the tart is an upside down shortcake, which is made by putting a layer of apple chunks on the base of a dish with plenty of butter and sugar to form caramel. Then a simple pastry is laid over the top, the ensemble baked then turned out so that the caramelly apple layer is uppermost for serving. To be honest, if you are nervous about turning the hot tart, there is no real need to do so. Just cut and flip each portion as you place it in the serving bowls, or leave with the pastry on top. It will taste the same either way.

Ingredients

 

Pastry

3 cups flour

4 tbsp raw sugar

1 tsp sea salt

240 g butter

2 egg yolks

 

Apples

150 g butter

150 g raw sugar

½ tsp sea salt

8 apples

 

Method

1. For the pastry, combine flour, sugar and salt. 
2. Add the butter and egg yolks and rub them into the flour until you get crumbs.
3. Add 4 tablespoons of cold water and knead into a ball.
4. Cover the dough and refrigerate for a minimum of an hour or even overnight.
5. For the caramel, heat the butter and sugar in a small saucepan. Swirl but don't stir until it smells  unmistakeably of caramel.
   
6. Pour the caramel into two 25 cm round cake tins and spread it across the base.
7. Sprinkle the caramel with salt.
8. Heat the oven to 190°C.
9. Peel, core and cut the apples into eighths.
10. Arrange the apples decoratively in the cake tins, with their core sides uppermost and outer curved side placed in the caramel.
11. Halve the dough and roll out into two 30 cm diameter rounds.
12. Place the dough over the apples, tucking it in to fit and patching any tears, then poke three vent holes in it.
13. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven and stand on a rack.
15. Cool for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge.
16. Place a plate on top and tip each tart out to reveal the caramelised apples sitting on a short pastry base.
17. Serve warm or at room temperature. Each tart serves 8.