I never made a Tatin before, somehow fearing the upside down caramelizing thing going on was a sure path to personal disaster. Apple day last week motivated me to risk bruising my baker’s ego and try it, since I always melt in delight every time I eat one. I picked an appetizing recipe by star-blogger Clotilde Dusoulier and was not disappointed. The apples and caramel melted wonderfully, so did I.
Tarte Tatin with salted butter caramel
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Recipe by: Clotilde Dusoulier, Chocolate and Zucchini Busy:20 min, Total prep time: 1h30 Serves: 6-8 |
In a medium mixing-bowl, mix the sugar and butter with a fork.
Add the flour and mix with the fork until reaching a crumbly texture similar to ground almonds.
Add a bit of milk and knead the dough with your hands just enough to form a ball. If the dough does not come together after about a minute, add in a tad more milk and knead again. The idea is to add the milk little by little and stop at just the right dough consistency (if you've added too much and the dough gets impossibly sticky, compensate with flour).
Wrap in a tea towel and put in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Prepare the caramel:
Butter the sides of a 25-cm (10-inch) cake tin.
Pour the brown sugar into a small saucepan and melt over medium-low heat, stirring regularly to even out the temperature. Now be careful, you will need to work quickly to avoid overcooking the caramel, which would otherwise become bitter. As soon as the sugar has melted, remove from the heat, add in the butter and stir to form a paste.
Pour the paste into the dish quickly - the caramel hardens as its temperature drops. Use the back of a spoon to spread it over the bottom. It's okay if the bottom is not entirely covered, but try to make it as even as you can. Set aside.
Assemble and bake the tart:
Rinse, peel, core and cut the apples in eighths. Arrange the pieces prettily over the caramel in the tin.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Take the ball of dough out of the fridge, lightly flour a clean work surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a disk slightly larger than the pan. Transfer the dough over the apples and tuck in the outer edges. Prick the dough in a few places with a fork.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour, until the crust turns golden and your home is filled with a wonderful caramely apple scent.
Take the dish out of the oven, run a knife along the inside edges of the tin and flip it onto a serving dish. If one or two apple pieces have stuck to the bottom of the dish, just put them back where they belong on the tart.
If you feel the apple colour is a bit on the light side (it happened to me), roast the tart, apples side up, another 5 minutes under your oven grill.
Serve warm on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or a dollop of crème fraîche or yogurt.
Prepare the pastry:
In a medium mixing-bowl, mix the sugar and butter with a fork.
Add the flour and mix with the fork until reaching a crumbly texture similar to ground almonds.
Add a bit of milk and knead the dough with your hands just enough to form a ball. If the dough does not come together after about a minute, add in a tad more milk and knead again. The idea is to add the milk little by little and stop at just the right dough consistency (if you’ve added too much and the dough gets impossibly sticky, compensate with flour).
Wrap in a tea towel and put in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Prepare the caramel:
Butter the sides of a 25-cm (10-inch) cake tin.
Pour the brown sugar into a small saucepan and melt over medium-low heat, stirring regularly to even out the temperature. Now be careful, you will need to work quickly to avoid overcooking the caramel, which would otherwise become bitter. As soon as the sugar has melted, remove from the heat, add in the butter and stir to form a paste.
Pour the paste into the dish quickly – the caramel hardens as its temperature drops. Use the back of a spoon to spread it over the bottom. It’s okay if the bottom is not entirely covered, but try to make it as even as you can. Set aside.
Assemble and bake the tart:
Rinse, peel, core and cut the apples in eighths. Arrange the pieces prettily over the caramel in the tin.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Take the ball of dough out of the fridge, lightly flour a clean work surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a disk slightly larger than the pan. Transfer the dough over the apples and tuck in the outer edges. Prick the dough in a few places with a fork.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour, until the crust turns golden and your home is filled with a wonderful caramely apple scent.
Take the dish out of the oven, run a knife along the inside edges of the tin and flip it onto a serving dish. If one or two apple pieces have stuck to the bottom of the dish, just put them back where they belong on the tart.
If you feel the apple colour is a bit on the light side (it happened to me), roast the tart, apples side up, another 5 minutes under your oven grill.
Serve warm on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or a dollop of crème fraîche or yogurt.
If you are in a hurry use a ready made shortcrust pastry, this will cut the total prep time to under an hour (and active time to 10 minutes top!). The tart will still be really good, although the real thing will always achieve superior results.
Ingredients
5 cox or russet apples
for the pastry:
170 g flour
85 g sugar (preferably unrefined cane sugar)
85 g salted butter, at room temperature
A little milk
For the caramel:
70 g brown sugar
35 g salted butter at room temperature, diced
5 cox or russet apples
for the pastry:
170 g flour
85 g sugar (preferably unrefined cane sugar)
85 g salted butter, at room temperature
A little milk
For the caramel:
70 g brown sugar
35 g salted butter at room temperature, diced
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