Tarte tatin

Watching an episode of "Sugar" got me all fired up to make this dessert again. It had been awhile since I made an apple tarte tatin. Watching Anna Olson deftly preparing the tart got me all worked up and salivating (he he) for that wonderful upside down apple dessert. Here's a little history on the hows and whys of the tart. If you love apple pie; there's more to love with this tart. Anna Olson made her tart with flaky pastry but I used shortcrust pastry for mine. Either way it's a great dessert, you could even use store-bought frozen puff pastry. Serve the tart with fresh cream, vanilla ice-cream or on it's own.

Here's a recipe you could use from cuisinedumone.com:-

Tarte Tatin

• 100 grams / 4 oz of butter
• 100 grams / 4 oz of white sugar
• 6 large apples
• fresh lemon juice
• 1 sheet of flaky or puff pastry (pre-rolled)

The pan you choose for Tarte Tatin is important as it must be able to withstand cooking on a stove top and in the very hot oven with extremely hot caramelizing sugar. A heavy bottomed seasoned cast-iron pan is preferable. Preheat the oven to 200°C,390°F or gas mark 5½. Measure your pan and cut your pastry sheet into a round disc to fit as a lid. Cover the pastry so it doesn't dry out and put aside for later. Peel the apples and cut into quarters removing the core. Brush with lemon juice sothey do not brown. Melt the butter and sugar together in the pan and slowly cook together until the sugar dissolves. Arrange the apple quarters in the sugar mixture in a snug even pattern. Cook over a slow to medium heat for around 20 minutes until the apples are slightly soft and the sugar has begun to caramelize. Place the pastry round securely on top of the apples. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Place a serving dish over the pan and flip upside down to release the dessert, so that the pastry is underneath. Serve at once, sprinkled with icing sugar if desired.

(Serves 4 to 6)

The little changes I made to the recipe were - using shortcrust pastry like I mentioned earlier and caramelising the apples in a saucepan and then transferring it all to a baking tin. I did not bother with the lemon juice because the apples were going to be browned anyways! And ooops, I almost forgot, I threw in a handful of roasted hazelnuts with the apples before putting the pastry lid on. Just to give it an extra crunch, you know!

This is what the tart looked like before I tipped it into a pie-dish (a precaution-to catch all the yummy drips!)

You can try this shortcrust pastry recipe - you probably need to halve this as it makes for a double crust or make the whole batch and stick the rest into your freezer. it keeps well. I made a banoffee pie with my leftover pastry. Another yums, I tell you. Ok, that's for another post! :)

Shortcrust pastry
3 cups plain flour
1/2 cup butter, preferably cold} mix
1/2 cup shortening } together
1 egg
1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 cup ice-cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut the butter/shortening mixture into the flour until you get a kind of crumbly texture.
2. Lightly beat the egg and add to water and the teaspoon of vinegar/lemon juice.
3. Sprinkle the liquid a tablespoon at a time over the flour mixture, blending gently/with a light touch until a soft ball forms. You may not need all of the liquid, discard unused.
4. Refrigerate the pastry while preparing the filling. Resting the pastry this way, allows for a more workable dough.