I can’t believe it’s nearly October, and I haven’t posted a tarte
tatin recipe. If you follow this blog, you well know that I love tarte
tatins, the upside down-versions of fruit tarts – oodles of caramel
required. In the late summer I make tarte tatins with stone fruit,
practicing, anticipating the impending fall season with apples and
pears. Apple Tarte Tatin is the quintessential version of this inverted
squidgy pastry, named, as legend has it, for the French Tatin sisters
who forgot to begin with the pastry when assembling their tart. No
worries: they slapped it on top and improvised, as all good home cooks
do. The result was an upside-down tart with caramelized fruit, poached
in a puddle of butter and sugar. Now do you see why I love it?
Apple Tarte Tatin
Serve this rustic dessert garnished with a spoonful of very lightly
sweetened whipped cream spiked with a splash of Calvados or Pear Brandy.
Serves 8 to 10.
For the Sour Cream Pastry:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut in pieces
1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
Apple Filling:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut in 4 pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and halved
1 egg, beaten to blend, for glaze
Prepare Pastry:
Combine flour, sugar and salt in bowl of food processor. Pulse once or
twice to blend. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas.
Add sour cream and pulse until moist clumps form. Gather dough into
ball, flatten and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Pastry
may be made one day ahead; refrigerate until use. Pastry dough may also
be frozen up to one month in freezer before rolling. Allow to defrost
in refrigerator overnight.) Remove pastry from refrigerator and let sit
at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling out.
Prepare Tart:
Arrange butter in the bottom of large oven-proof skillet with sloping
sides (preferably cast iron). Sprinkle 3/4 cup sugar evenly over butter
and pan. Cook over medium heat until butter melts, the sugar is
partially dissolved, and the mixture is bubbling, about 2 minutes.
Arrange apples closely together, core-side up, in a circular pattern in
the skillet. If necessary, cut remaining apples in quarters to fill in
the spaces. Sprinkle apples with 2 tablespoons sugar. Set skillet over
medium-high heat. Boil until a thick amber coloured syrup forms, turning
the skillet to ensure even cooking, about 25 to 30 minutes.
While the apples are cooking on the stove, heat oven to 425 F. Roll out
pastry on parchment paper to a round shape to fit size of skillet.
Return the dough and parchment to refrigerator until apples are
caramelized. When ready, remove skillet from heat. Working quickly, lay
pastry over apple mixture and peel away the parchment (the heat from the
apples will begin to melt the pastry). Cut 3-4 slits in pastry. Brush
pastry with some of the egg glaze.
Bake tart until pastry is deep golden brown and firm when tapped,
about 30 minutes. Remove tart from oven and cool on rack one minute.
Gently loosen the edge of the pastry around the skillet with a thin
spatula. Place a serving platter over the skillet. Quickly invert the
tart onto the platter, using oven mitts. If any of the apples or caramel
remain in the pan, scrape it out and arrange over the tart. Cool tart
slightly before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped
cream.
National Presto 03430 Presto Pizzazz Pizza Maker
