Tarte Tatin
Tags: #French #pastry #dessert #apple #caramel #classic
Serving: 8 pieces
Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes
An upside-down caramelized apple tart with crisp all-butter puff pastry and deeply glazed fruit.
Ingredients
- 300 g all-butter puff pastry, chilled
- 1,100 g firm apple halves, peeled and cored (e.g., Braeburn, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady)
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 1 g fine sea salt
Steps
- Set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Peel the apples.
- Core the apples.
- Halve the apples through the stem.
- Pat the apple halves dry with paper towels.
- Cut two apple halves into quarters to create small filler pieces.
- Cut the butter into 2 cm cubes.
- Scatter the butter cubes in an even layer in a heavy 24 cm ovenproof skillet.
- Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the butter.
- Sprinkle the salt evenly over the sugar.
- Arrange the apple halves tightly in the skillet with cut sides facing up.
- Tuck the apple quarters into any gaps to pack the pan tightly.
- Set the skillet over medium heat.
- Cook until the sugar and butter melt and begin to bubble, about 5 minutes.
- Swirl the skillet gently to distribute the caramel.
- Spoon the bubbling syrup over the apples.
- Press the apples gently with a spatula to compact them.
- Continue cooking until the caramel is a deep amber and the apples are three-quarters tender, 20 to 25 minutes total.
- Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Dust the work surface lightly with flour.
- Roll the puff pastry to a 3 mm thickness.
- Cut a 26 cm circle from the pastry.
- Prick the pastry circle all over with a fork.
- Lay the pastry over the apples.
- Tuck the pastry edges down around the apples inside the skillet.
- Cut a 1 cm steam vent in the center of the pastry.
- Bake until the pastry is deeply golden and the caramel bubbles thickly at the edges, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Transfer the skillet to a wire rack.
- Rest the tart for 10 minutes.
- Loosen the pastry edge from the skillet with a thin knife.
- Place a large serving plate over the skillet.