Tag: apples - myfrenchtable

Tarte Tatin is a well known french apple tart. Research shows that it is called after two sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin who ran a hotel, Hotel Tatin, in Sologne (region about 100km south of Paris).

The most well known story is that one of the sisters dropped the tart after taking it out of the oven and it fell upside down, but she decided to pick it up and serve it anyway with the apples on top and the pastry on the bottom. Apparently on the sisters menu the tart was called a Tarte Solognote after the region they were living in but when the tart became well known and made it to Paris the name was changed to Tarte Tatin after the sisters.

Ingredients :

1 short cut pastry – recipe here (add a tablespoon of sugar to the recipe for a sweet pastry)
4-6 apples
100g sugar
50g soft brown sugar
50g butter
Juice of 1 lemon

Method :

Pre-heat oven to 180°C
Peel and cut apples into quarters and sprinkle the juice of half a lemon over them
Take 100g of the sugar and add in an even layer to a heavy-bottomed saucepan or an oven proof dish suitable for the tart
Heat the sugar over a moderate heat.
Use a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon to move the liquefied sugar from the edges of the saucepan to the center.
Carefully watch the sugar until it reaches exactly the right amber color
Add half the juice to the caramel
If your pan isn’t oven proof and not suitable to use for the tart pour the caramel into the tart dish (otherwise use the same dish)
Place the apples on the caramel (rounded side down), trying to completely cover the base. Add any remaining apples on top of the base layer
Cube the 50g of butter and place on apples
Sprinkle the soft brown sugar over the apples
Cover the apples with the short-cut pastry taking care to press down around the sides of the pan
Sprinkle some sugar over the pastry (this will help prevent the pastry from getting too wet from the apples)
Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C
Remove from oven and using a plate turn the tart upside down but leave in tin/pan for a good 10 minutes before removing (this will avoid any apples sticking to the pan)
Serve warm with some ice-cream

The tarte tatin before cooking