Tarte Tatin is the French version of apple pie, that’s how I think about it. There’s a rough puff pastry base, similar to pie dough. On top, theres’ poached apples and caramel to top it off. You could say its a topless apple pie recipe. Anyway, this tarte tatin recipe comes from Claire Saffitz’s “Dessert Person” cookbook. If you don’t feel like reading the description below for tips on how to make this, the video in the link above will give you what you need. If you prefer to read, let’s press on.
Recipe Notes
Tarte Tatin uses puff pastry for the base. When making this recipe, I made a batch of rough puff pastry. See my post with the recipe here Rough puff is a “quicker” version of puff pastry that I honestly had no idea existed until I started watching the great British bakeoff. If you’re pinched for time or are just lazy, store bought puff pastry will work fine. Also, nobody will really know the difference, you just won’t get to brag that you made “everything” from scratch.
Once you’ve got the puff pastry either made or bought, the next step is the apples. I used pink lady apples that I got from a farmers market but any firm baking apple will work here. If buying from the grocery, pink lady is the way to go. Slice a layer off of the top and bottom of the apples so that they stand up straight. Cut the apples in half from top to bottom, then peel and core. If you have a melon baller, you can use that to core the apples but if not, a paring knife works just fine.
Once the apples are peeled and cored, place them upright in your ovenproof skillet. Mix the maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and brandy and pour over the top of the apples. Sprinkle some kosher salt on top and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until the apples pierce easily with a toothpick but aren’t falling apart to mush. This can take as little as one hour and as much as nearly two hours, so be sure to check once or twice. The apples need to hold their shape for when you invert the tarte tatin before serving.
More Recipe Notes
Once the apples are ready, put them on a plate and chill in the fridge. If chilling longer than 20 minutes, cover them. Baking the apples can be done ahead of time so you can bake the apples the night before and then cover them in the fridge if you don’t have an afternoon to make an entire tarte tatin. Leaving the juices in the skillet, place on the stove over medium heat and bring the liquid to a simmer. Let some of the liquid cook off to create a nice syrup. Place the syrup in a heatproof container and set aside for later.
Rinse out the skillet and place back on the heat to make the caramel. Adding a few tablespoons at a time, heat the sugar in the skillet until melted, swirling the pan but not stirring with a spatula. Once the sugar has melted, add more sugar, swirling as you go to help the sugar melt. Repeat until all of the sugar has been added to the pan and is melted. Remove the pan from the heat. You can use a spatula to help facilitate melting after the first round of sugar has melted. With the pan off the heat, stir in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Finally, stir in the apple cider vinegar and then set aside for the caramel to harden, around 15 minutes or so.
Once the caramel is hardened, place the apples round side down in the skillet. Arrange the apples so that there is a minimum of gaps between the apples. Once the apples have been place in the skillet, place the skillet in the fridge to cool while you roll out the pastry.
Pastry Notes
Take the rough puff pastry or store bought dough out of the fridge and let sit for 5 minutes. Unwrap and place on a floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, beat the dough all over to help make it more pliable. Roll out the dough into a circle and then using a stencil, cut out an 11-inch circle from the dough. A dinner plate works well here. Reserve the dough scraps to make palmiers. Using the tines of a fork, prick the dough all over. This helps with releasing moisture and ensuring that the dough puffs up evenly.
Next, place the rough puff over the apples in the skillet. There will be a bit of overlap so use your hands or a spoon to tuck the dough into the sides of the skillet. If it doesn’t look perfect, that’s alright, this ends up being the bottom of the tarte tatin, so if its not picture perfect, nobody needs to know. Place the skillet in the fridge to chill for 10-15 minutes. In theory, you could prepare the entire dessert up to this point and then just leave it in the fridge until ready to bake if you’re serving this at a fancy dinner party. Or you could be like me, just baking an entire Tarte Tatin for you own consumption on a Saturday afternoon.
Baking Tips and Final Notes
Bake for 20 minutes at 425 and then reduce the oven temp to 350 and bake for another 35 to 45 minutes. The pastry should be puffed, golden, and the caramel bubbling up around the sides. Remove the skillet from the oven and let rest for ten minutes.
Work over a sink for the next step since there will be some excess juice. Take a wire cooling rack and carefully invert the skillet onto the wire rack. The Tarte Tatin should release right out of the skillet onto the rack. If a few apples stick, just scrape them out and place them back onto the tart. Take the syrup you made earlier and brush it over the top of the tarte liberally to give it a glossy finish. Slide the Tarte Tatin onto a plate and serve at room temp. Its delicious on its own or with ice cream.
Tarte Tatin
Equipment
- 10-inch ovenproof skillet I used a cast-iron pan
- Rolling Pin
- Wire cooling rack
- Aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 1/2 recipe of rough puff pastry dough recipe link above in notes, you can also use 1 sheet of store bought puff-pastry
- 3 lbs Pink Lady apples around 7-8 medium sized apples, any firm baking apple will work
- 200 grams maple syrup
- 74 grams brandy, apple brandy if you have it
- 8 grams apple cider vinegar
- 3 grams kosher salt
- 200 grams sugar
- 43 grams unsalted butter 3 tbsp
- AP flour, for rolling dough out
Instructions
Roast the apples
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit
- Slice a layer off of the top and bottom of each apple so they stand upright. Peel the apples and then cut in half from top to bottom. Using a paring knife, cut the core and stem out of each apple and stand the apple halves upright in the skillet.
- In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, brandy, and half of the apple cider vinegar. Pour the mixture over the apples and add a pinch of salt on top. Cover the skillet with aluminum foil and crimp the edges to create a tight seal.
- Bake for an hour or until a toothpick slides easily through the apple. The apples should be cooked but not so much that they're mushy. Transfer the apples to a large plate and chill in the fridge until cold, at least 20 minutes. If chilling longer than 20 minutes, cover the apples.
- Leaving the juices from the apples in the pan, place the skillet on the stove and heat over medium-low heat, swirling the pan regularly. Cook until the mixture has thickened up and resembles a syrup, around 3 minutes. Transfer the syrup to heat proof container and set aside. Rinse and dry the skillet
Caramel Instructions
- Sprinkle a few spoonfuls of the sugar across the bottom of the skillet in an even layer and cook over medium-low heat undisturbed until most of the sugar has melted into a clear liquid, around 4 minutes
- Sprinkle a few more spoonfuls of sugar, stirring the sides of the skillet with a heatproof spatula. Once the sugar has mostly melted, add a few more spoonfuls of sugar and repeat until all of the sugar is used and melted, around 6-8 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook until the sugar turns a deep gold color, moves easily and releases small wisps of smoke. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the butter one piece at a time. Once all of the butter has been added, stir in the salt and the other half of the apple cider vinegar and set skillet aside until caramel has hardened, around 15 minutes.
Tarte Assembly
- Place the chilled apple halves round side down in the skillet. Try to keep gaps between the apples to a minimum. Place skillet in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 425 with a rack in the center.
- Remove the rough puff or store bought pastry from the fridge and let sit for 5 minutes. Unwrap the dough and place on a floured work surface.
- Beat the dough with a rolling pin to help make it more pliable. Dust the dough with flour as needed and roll out to a 12-inch round shape. Set an 11-inch plate over the top of the dough and cut around it to create an 11-inch round piece of pastry dough. Using the tines of a fork, prick all over the pastry round.
- Drape the pastry over the apples and using your hands or a large spoon, tuck the edges of the dough down between the apples and the sides of the skillet. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.
- Bake the tart for 20 minutes.
- Reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake until the pastry is puffy and golden brown all over and the caramel is bubbling up around the sides of the skillet.
- Let the tarte rest in the skillet for 10 minutes.
- Over a sink, invert the tart onto a wire cooling rack. While the tart is still warm, use a pastry brush to generously brush the tarte with the syrup made earlier. Slide the tarte onto a plate and serve warm.
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