Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin, a famous french upside-down tarte filled with apples
which are caramelized in butter and sugar

Today I would like to present a famous classic french tarte -- Tarte Tatin. A tarte that I have never heard before I married a Frenchman. The first time I tasted it was when we were in Marrakesh, Morocco. Yes, in a very chic upmarket restaurant  which serves mostly french expatriates and tourists. It was served in a small ceramic tarte dish with a scope of vanilla ice-cream at the side, Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" was playing in the background. After all these years, I can still remember how it was served and how it tasted, purely because it was so good!! The best thing is.. it is not difficult to make :) but very addictive..

Try to use apples which are not easly melt into apple sauce for this dish cause you would want to have apples which are soft but doesn't lost it's shape after cooking. I used Braeburn, a variety which is not too expensive with a good balance of sweetness and acidity.

So here's what you need and how:

6          Apples (peeled, cored and cut into 6 wedges per apple)
1          Puff pastry
150g    Caster sugar
100g    Butter
1/2       Lemon juice
A pinch of seasalt

1. First peeled, cored and cut apples in wedges. I cut each apple into 6 wedges then toss those in half a lemon juice. Set aside.
2. In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt butter with a pinch of salt over low heat. When butter is almost melted sprinkle on caster sugar.. Do Not Stir. Let it melt slowly, when the sugar is wet but not yet all melted.. add in the apple wedges, arrange nicely to put in a maximum of apple wedges as well as for a good presentation. You might have extra apples that can not fit in the pan in the beginning, but soon when the apples are cooked and soften, you will have space.
3. Turn all apple wedges to cook evenly as well as to have a good coat of the caramel. You should see a good amount of apple juice mix-in the caramel to creat a thick sauce. If it is too dry, add in more butter.
4. When apple wedges are nicely caramelized, cover it with the puff pastry make sure to make a hole in the middle of the puff pastry to let steam out.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden and puffed.
6. Serve warm or cold with or without a scope of ice cream.

Tarte Tatin