Tarte Tatin

Serves: 8 to 12.

The velvety apples, pair well with the sweet and spicy, yet cooling orange flavored caramel. On a flaky and crunchy crust.

A wonderful symphony to the senses. A great way to celebrate autumn!

Tarte Tatin gets its name from a famous French hotel 100 miles south of Paris called Hotel Tatin, created by accident (it’s rumored) in the 1880s.

Recipe:

Ingredients for Pastry Dough: 


  • 2 Cups of Unbleached All Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
  • 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter (1 stick), chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • 1 large egg (cold, beaten)
  • 2 tablespoons of whole milk

Ingredient for Caramelized Apple:

  • 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
  • 3 lbs. of golden delicious apples (between 5 or 6, peeled, cored and quartered.
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
  • 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Instructions:

For the Pastry:

  1. Mix flour, sugar and salt in food processor, fitted with steel blades.
  2. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles corn meal, about 7 to 12 seconds.
  3. Turn mixture into medium size bowl; add the egg and milk. 
  4. Stir with fork until little balls form.
  5. Press balls together with the back of the fork, then gather dough into a ball on plastic wrap.
  6. With hands flatten into a disk of about 4 inch diameter, wrap and refrigerate at least 30 mins. (can be refrigerated overnight; let stand at room temperature to warm slightly before further use).

For the filling:

  1. Melt butter in 9 inch skillet with sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, orange blossom water and salt.
  2. Remove from heat, arrange the apple quarters thin side down as shown. 
  3. Return skillet to high heat for 5 minutes. 
  4. Lower the heat to medium, flip the apple pieces with a fork, then cook until the juice turns to amber color (10-12 mins).
  5. Adjust the over rack to medium position and pre-heat oven to 375ºF.
  6. While the apple is caramelizing, unwrap the dough, cover with a second piece of plastic wrap (to avoid the dough sticking to the work surface, and make it easy to transfer to the skillet.
  7. Starting from disk center working outwards, roll the dough into a 12 inch circle.
  8. As shown, carry the pastry on the roller to the skillet and cover the cooked apples. 
  9. Tuck the edges gently against the skillet walls.
  10. Bake until the crust is golden browm, 25-30 minutes. 
  11. Sit skillet on wire cooling rack; let cool for about 10 mins.
  12. Loosen edges with a knife, place serving plate over the skillet, turn tarte upside down (while holding plate firmly to the skillet) onto the serving plate and remove skillet.
  13. Scrape out any apples stuck to the skillet and arrange them back into their original places (tarte can be kept for serveral hours at room temperature, but warm it up for 20 mins in 200ºF oven before serving).

One Comment

  1. Robin Turk says:

    I just tried Zakia’s Tarte Tatin. It is amazing. The apples keep their shaped but their texture is like the best pudding I can imagine. The crust and spices are excellent, too. If you ever get the chance to try this, take it!

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