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Tart taten with apples - classic French pie

Apple Tarte Tatin – Classic French Tart

Beautiful, original, melt-in-your-mouth—a treat for any day! Apple tarte tatin is a classic French tart baked upside down: shortcrust pastry on top, caramelized fruit on the bottom. The finished tart is flipped onto a plate, so the filling ends up on the pastry, like a regular tart.

Maria

Recipe author

Tart taten with apples - classic French pie

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Flour

250

Butter

100

Sugar

Water

Egg (large)

Salt (a pinch)

Apples

600

Sugar

120

Butter

Water

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 7 % 3 g

Fats 19 % 8 g

Carbohydrates 74 % 32 g

215 kcal

GI: 16 / 0 / 84

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make tarte tatin? Start with the dough. Gather the ingredients for it. How do you make the dough? Use good-quality butter—the higher the fat content, the better. Take it out of the fridge ahead of time so it softens.
Step 2:

In a suitably sized bowl, sift in the flour and add the salt. Make a well in the center.
Step 3:

Crack the egg into the well and add the sugar. Cut the butter into small cubes and add them to the bowl with everything else.
Step 4:

Adding water a little at a time, knead a smooth, elastic dough. Judge the water by the dough—you may need a bit more or less. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and chill it for 30 minutes.
Step 5:

Roll the chilled dough into a circle the same diameter as your baking dish. For convenience, you can roll it on a round cutting board the size of the dish.
Step 6:

Cover the rolled dough with plastic wrap and return it to the fridge.
Step 7:

Meanwhile, make the filling. Gather the ingredients. How do you make the filling? Choose ripe, fragrant, firm apples. Use good-quality butter, as for the dough. Cane sugar works nicely and gives the filling a lovely note.
Step 8:

Put the butter in a saucepan, pour in the water, and add the sugar. Heat over medium until it forms a light amber caramel.
Step 9:

Don't stir the mixture with a spatula, or the caramel will clump around it—just swirl the pan.
Step 10:

Peel the apples. Halve them and remove the cores. Then cut the apples into slices.
Step 11:

Pour the caramel into a greased baking dish.
Step 12:

Arrange the apple slices over the caramel. Use plenty of apples, since they shrink a little as they bake. Lay them overlapping, in a circle.
Step 13:

Cover the apples with the dough. Tuck the edges of the dough inward so it forms little rims when flipped. Cut a small slit in the center to let steam escape. Bake the tarte tatin for about 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 350°F (180°C). The pastry should turn evenly golden.
Step 14:

Flip the finished tart onto a plate so the apples are on top and the pastry underneath. Cut the tarte tatin into portions. Serve it any way you like—it's lovely warm with a scoop of ice cream, or cold with hot coffee. Enjoy!

We owe this simple tart to the sisters Caroline and Stéphanie Tatin, who owned a small hotel in the provincial town of Lamotte-Beuvron. Stéphanie was the cook, and her open-faced apple-and-caramel tart was her signature dessert. Like many great recipes, it came about by accident: one busy day, while heating the filling, she caught the smell of it burning, quickly covered it with dough, and baked it that way, flipping it only after it came out of the oven. Everyone loved it so much that it eventually reached the Paris restaurateur Louis Vaudable, who put it on his own restaurant's menu—and from there the tart gradually won over the world.
Keep in mind that ovens vary. The temperature and cooking time may differ from those in the recipe. To make any baked dish a success, read up on how ovens behave!
Any heatproof dish works for this recipe. If you use a silicone mold, you don't need to grease it; but it's best to lightly oil a metal, ceramic, or glass dish so the pastry doesn't stick.
Always wash eggs before using them—even a shell that looks clean can carry harmful bacteria. A food-safe brush and detergent work best.