While the French name might sound intimidating, this recipe is actually a joy to make when you have the time. The use of store-bought, frozen puff pastry cuts down on prep and makes the dish more approachable.
Apple Tarte Tatin
While the French name might sound intimidating, this recipe is actually a joy to make when you have the time. The use of store-bought, frozen puff pastry cuts down on prep and makes the dish more approachable.
Ingredients
- 4-5 Gala or Honeycrisp apples ( peeled, cored, and sliced ¼” thick)
- ½ cup white granulated sugar
- 4 Tbsp water
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 5 Tbsp salted butter
- 1 Juice of Lemon
- 1 store-bought all-butter ( puff pastry crust (8oz))
Instructions
- Begin by preparing your caramel sauce.
- In a saute pan, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the surface of the pan.
- Sprinkle 4 Tbsp water over the top of the sugar.
- Turn heat to medium low and patiently wait for your sugar to heat up and turn from white to translucent to golden and amber.
- This whole process can take roughly 10 minutes.
- As the sugar slowly heats, gently swirl the pan (do not stir) to encourage even browning.
- When large slow bubbles have formed across the surface of the caramel and you have reached the desired amber color, remove from heat and stir in the 5 Tbsp salted butter and ¼ tsp kosher salt until combined.
- Pour this caramel mixture into the bottom of a well-buttered 10” cast iron pan (or stainless-steel oven-proof saute pan with high sides), and distribute caramel evenly over the pan surface.
- Prepare your apples by removing the peel, cutting into quarters, and removing the core from each quarter.
- Slice these remaining cored apple sections into ¼” slices, and carefully lay the apples in an overlapping pattern in the saute pan, on top of the caramel.
- Continue to lay the layered apple slices until you have filled up the saute pan nearly to the top.
- Avoid overfilling the pan at this stage, as it will leak juices during baking if filled too high.
- Place one (thawed) all-butter puff pastry over the top of your apples.
- Tuck the edges of the puff pastry between the apples and the pan.
- Gently poke holes in the top of the puff pastry with a fork.
- Bake at 375F for 40-50 minutes, or until your puff pastry is completely cooked and golden brown on top.
- Allow the tarte to rest out of the oven after it is done baking for roughly 30-45 minutes.
- Carefully use a knife to loosen the edges of the tart from the saute pan.
- Place a rimmed serving plate that is slightly larger than the saute pan on top of the saute pan, and confidently invert the tarte onto the plate.
- Carefully lift the saute pan off the tarte.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
Notes
If you are tempted to use more than the recommended amount of caramel, be extra careful when inverting the tarte prior to serving. Adding extra caramel sauce can turn into a mess on the floor fairly easily, especially if your serving dish is flat.
You can try to make this dessert with other quartered fruits, like peaches, although be wary of the water content in the peaches as they cook. The end result will be much more soupy than the traditional version made with apples.
It helps to keep a baking tray on a rack below the tarte while it bakes, just in case you have any spillage.
You can try to make this dessert with other quartered fruits, like peaches, although be wary of the water content in the peaches as they cook. The end result will be much more soupy than the traditional version made with apples.
It helps to keep a baking tray on a rack below the tarte while it bakes, just in case you have any spillage.
