Tarte Tatin
French Week goes on! We continue with a delicious Tarte Tatin - named after the hotel serving it as its signature dish, the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte Beuvron. The Tarte Tatin is a pastry in which the fruit is caramelised in butter and sugar before the tart is baked - an absolute must try if you love apples and pies!
We suggest eating it warm straight out of the oven with some vanilla ice cream.
Prep Time: 30 Min
Cooking Time: 25 Min
Ingredients for 22cm baking tray (3/4 people):
Apples - 4 (Golden Lady)
Glaze Sugar - 75gr
Butter - 75gr
For the pastry:
Flour - 180gr
Sugar - 70gr
Butter - 75gr
Egg - 1
How to:
We start with the dough. In a bowl add the flour and butter cut in small squares (thebutter has to be very cold). Use the tip of your fingers or a fork to mix until you get a sandy texture.
Add the egg and the sugar. Use your hands to knead to a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in a film and let it rest 1 hour (min 30min)
Peel the apples, cut into 4 pieces and remove the core. If you have a tarte tatin pot we will make all the process in the same pot (basically a pot that can be used on the stove and in the oven). If you don’t like us we will use a normal pan to prepare the apples and then use a round baking tray to bake the “Tarte Tatin”.
In a pan melt the butter at medium-high and add the glaze sugar slowly. With the help of a spatula mix both ingredients until they merge.
Make a brown caramel but be careful that it doesn’t get too dark, it will have a bitter flavour this way.
When the caramel is ready add the apples and cook them for approx 10min. The apples will start to cook and will impregnate with the caramel.
Pour a little flour on the surface on which you are going to stretch the dough, put it on top and press with your hands so that it stretches a little. Use a rolling pin to stretch until the diameter is 1cm bigger than the baking tray and 3mm thick.
In the baking tray add the apples first with a little bit of the caramel sauce and cover them with the dough.
Gently press with the palm of your hand the dough to adhere it to the apples (without piercing it) and arrange the apples well at the bottom of the mold. Push the edges of the dough inside the mold with your fingers.
With the tip of a sharp knife make a small chimney in the center of the dough so that the vapor can escape during the baking.
In a preheated oven at 180-200ºC bake for 20-25min until the pastry is completely cooked (Golden colour).
Be careful with this step! Use oven gloves or other protecting gear you have. Place the plate you want to serve the Tarte Tatin upside down on top of the baking tray. Make pressure to hold both pan and plate together and turn in a quick and controlled movement. Be careful with the splashing of hot caramel.
Lift the baking tray and voila your Tarte Tatin.