Maison Ardoise · Desserts

Caramelised Apple Tarte Tatin

Name: Caramelised Apple Tarte Tatin
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1300 g Firm apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or Honeycrisp); 150 g Granulated sugar; 60 g Unsalted butter; 1 pinch Salt; 1 tbsp Lemon juice; 0.5 tsp Vanilla extract; 250 g All-butter puff pastry, thawed; 200 ml Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Apples cooked in deep amber butter caramel under a blanket of puff pastry, baked until crisp and flipped out so the glossy, sticky fruit sits on top. Served warm with crème fraîche.

95 minutes · Medium · 8 servings

Original house recipe · Not yet kitchen-tested

Ingredients

Firm apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or Honeycrisp)1300 g
Granulated sugar150 g
Unsalted butter60 g
Salt1 pinch
Lemon juice1 tbsp
Vanilla extract0.5 tsp
All-butter puff pastry, thawed250 g
Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream, to serve200 ml

Quantities describe recipe usage, not package sizes.

Allergen notes

Wheat (puff pastry) and milk (butter, pastry, crème fraîche). Check pastry labels for egg.

Method

Prepare the apples

Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Peel, quarter and core the apples and toss them with the lemon juice. Roll the puff pastry to a 3 mm thick sheet, cut a round about 2 cm wider than a 23–25 cm ovenproof skillet, prick it all over with a fork and chill it on a plate.

Make the caramel

Scatter the sugar evenly over the base of the ovenproof skillet and set over medium heat. Without stirring, let it melt, swirling the pan gently as it liquefies, for 6–8 minutes, until it is an even deep amber. Take it off the heat and carefully stir in the butter (it will bubble up) and the salt and vanilla. Caramel is extremely hot: keep children away and do not touch or taste it.

Cook the apples

Arrange the apple quarters tightly in the caramel, rounded side down, standing them on their edges in concentric circles; they shrink as they cook. Return to medium-low heat and cook for 15–20 minutes, without stirring, basting with the bubbling caramel now and then, until the apples are partly tender and the caramel is thick and syrupy. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Cover and bake

Lay the chilled pastry over the apples and tuck the edges down inside the pan with a spoon. Cut 3 small slits in the top. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep golden.

Turn it out

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, no longer, or the caramel sets. Run a knife around the edge, put a serving plate larger than the pan on top and, wearing oven gloves and holding both firmly together, flip it over in one confident movement, away from your body. Lift off the pan and replace any apples that stuck. Serve warm with crème fraîche or ice cream.

Choose apples that hold their shape. If the caramel starts to darken too fast before the apples are in, take the pan off the heat for a moment; dark is good, burnt is bitter.

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