Tarte Tatin
A tarte tatin is an inverse French pie: the fruit is caramelized on the bottom of the pan and the pastry is laid over-top. Once it comes out of the oven, flip it onto a platter and ooh and ahh at the beautiful caramelized fruit sitting in golden syrup. While we may associate tarte tatin with apples, you can also make this with any stone fruit during these spring and summer months. It’s an impressive but easy dessert to celebrate the bounty of farmer’s markets.
Tarte Tatin
serves 4
shopping list —
for the paté sucree — alternatively, you can use store-bought puff pastry
250 grams all-purpose flour
15 grams granulated sugar
6 grams kosher salt
175 grams cold, unsalted butter
2 each eggs
32 grams milk
for the fruit —
6-8 each any stone fruit in season or apples (the amount will depend on the size of your fruit)
80 grams cubed butter, softened
135 grams granulated or light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
salt
equipment —
cast iron pan
food processor
steps —
for the paté sucree —
Blend the flour with the salt and sugar in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture feels like sandy. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk and eggs. Stream the wet into the dry and pulse until the mixture just comes together.
Knead lightly on a floured surface until the dough comes together. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the dough to rest.
Pull out the dough from the refrigerator and roll out to about a 11” round. Chill between parchment paper until you’re ready to use it.
for the tarte tatin —
Peel the fruit and cut in half. Remove the pits (if using apples, scoop out the core and remove the stem). You can either keep the fruit halved or slice them.
Spread the sugar evenly in the bottom of the cast iron pan. Scatter the butter over the sugar and add the vanilla. Arrange the fruit in a concentric circle around the outside of pan on the cut-side down. Then place the fruit in the center. Use enough fruit to fill in any gaps (you can cram more halves in then you think, even if they slightly pop up on the sides of the pan — as they caramelize, they’ll shrink down). Sprinkle with a little salt and allow to caramelize over medium low heat — you can gently move the fruit around to evenly caramelize. Baste the fruit as necessary and allow the syrup to become thick and golden brown (don’t rush this as the caramel with burn before the fruit is soft).
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Drape the rolled out paté sucree or puff pastry over the fruit and tuck the edges of the pastry inside the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the juices begin to bubble over.
Remove the tart from the oven. Allow to cool for about 3 minutes. Invert a platter over the skillet and flip. If any fruit sticks to the cast iron, you can place them back into the tart (Julia Child style). Sprinkle with thyme if desired and serve warm.