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Tarte Tatin Recipe

April 1, 2015 - By Gayathri Kumar

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This month is going to be really interesting for you all as it is also interesting for me. If you know me well, then you know that I love baking and I would bake daily if there is some one who can eat all I bake. Unfortunately, there are only two members in my house and they are not that keen in eating everything I bake. So I restrict myself and most of the bakes go to our employees. When Srivalli announced the theme for this month nearly 6 months ago, I was so happy because it is Baking for the whole month. So you will be seeing only baking recipes for the whole month in my blog. Last month I started preparing for the recipes and I should say I am 2/3 rd done. Still there are 8 recipes for me to decide and I am here with my first recipe for this Mega Blogging Marathon. I have been very irregular with my Daring Bakers Challenges and I saw this month as the perfect opportunity to make last month’s recipe. Korena of Korena in The Kitchen is the host last month and she wanted us to try out Tarte Tatin. This has been in my to do list ever since I saw it on Master chef Australia three years back. I was so happy to try it.

For those who don’t know what Tarte Tatin is, it is an upside down tart made with rough puff pastry and apples. The origin of tarte tatin is very interesting. The tatin sisters who ran a hotel near Paris, one day forgot to put the tart base for the apple pie and ended with this tart. It became so famous as the guests liked it very much. It became the signature dish of the hotel. There is also a story which says that there was a tart similar to this called as the Tarte Solognotte which existed long befor Tarte Tatin. Any how this is a delicious rustic dessert. The puff pastry made for this is called as the rough puff pastry which is completely different from the usual puff [pastry we make.

I made the puff pastry two days before making the tarte Tatin. I just refrigerated it and used it while assembling the tart. The original recipe is to make a 10″ tart but as I didn’t have a 10″ tin, I used an 8″ tin instead. So I was left with a portion of apples and syrup. If you are going to try this recipe then make sure to use a 10″ tin. Usually this tart is made in a oven safe skillet. The caramel and the apples are cooked in the skillet and the puff pastry is placed on top and baked in oven. But if you are like me and don’t have a skillet, then you can assemble it in a cake tin and then flip it onto a serving plate. I felt that the tart was so sweet and it is better to serve it along with unsweetened whipped cream to cut the sweetness. And also my tart had a lot of syrup and the puff pastry absorbed it and made it super delicious.

I will be doing a separate post for this puff pastry so here I have given a collage of all the steps as it will become very long if I post it stepwise.

For The Rough Puff Pastry:

Ingredients:

Flour-1 cup

Butter-1/2 cup

Water-1/2 cup

Salt-a pinch

Procedure:

Drop ice cubes in water to make it ice cold.

In a bowl mix together flour and salt.

Cube chill butter and add it to the flour.

With both the hands, rub the butter and flour together. We are aiming to break down the butter to pea sized pieces. Do not make it like bread crumbs.

Now add ice cold water and bring the dough together. It will be very crumbly but it is fine. Do not add extra water.

If your place is cold enough you can go to the next step but if it is hot, it is better to refrigerate the dough in a cling wrap for 30 minutes before proceeding.

Now shape the dough on the counter into a long rectangle with the smaller side facing you.

With the help of a dough scraper, lift 1/3 rd of the rectangle and place it on the 2/3 rd portion.

Now lift the opposite portion and place it on the previous fold. It is like folding a paper into three. As the dough is crumbly, it will be very difficult and it looks so rough. That is why it is rough puff pastry.

Now turn the dough 90° so that the fold is in your side.

With a roller, roll it to a lengthy rectangle like before. Now repeat the folding.

You will be rolling and folding four times and each time the dough will become more pliable and neat. If at any stage you feel the butter melting, just wrap it in cling wrap, chill it until firm and then roll.

Once you are done with the fourth fold, cover with cling film and refrigerate until your apples are ready.

For The Tarte Tatin:

Makes a 10″ Tart

Ingredients:

Apples – 6

Butter-6 tbs

Sugar-1 cup + 1/3 cup

Salt-a pinch

Lemon Juice / Vinegar- 1 tbs

Procedure:

Peel apples and slice it into four.

Remove the seeds and place all the apples in a bowl.

Add lemon juice and 1/3 cup of sugar and mix well.

Keep it aside for 30 minutes. The apples will let out water and you need to discard it.

In a pan mix together butter and remaining sugar.

Keep on stirring until the sugar melts and starts changing colour.

Keep stirring and the sauce will become dark. Once it reaches the perfect colour, add the apples to the sauce.

Keep on stirring and allow the apples to cook until tender.

It will take nearly 30 minutes to cook the apples on medium low flame.

Now remove the apple from flame.

Preheat oven to 190°C.

In a 10″ cake tin, arrange the apples with the round side down.

Roll out the cold puff pastry into a circle.

Cut out an inch larger than the tin.

Place the pastry on the apple and tuck the sides inside the pan.

Bake in oven for 35 minutes.

Now increase temperature to 200°C.

Bake for 5-10 minutes.

Remove the tin from oven and allow it to sit on counter until the syrup stops bubbling.

Place a large serving plate on the tin and carefully flip it. Be very careful as the syrup will spill out. Do it on top of the sink if possible.

Slice it and serve it hot along with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51