Tarte Tatin (Apple Tart)

Oh boy.  It’s Cook the Books Club time and I hate to say it, but it wasn’t great.  Here’s my Goodreads review.

Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook by Alice Waters
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ooof. I don't know about this one. As I was reading, it felt like I was talking to someone's grandma who was trying to stay hip and relevant to the young whippersnappers and fell short. I lost it when twice on one page she wrote: I was a cheerleader, but then maybe I quit, I don't remember; followed immediately by the exact same thing, only about working as a waitress - why even add that in?

I was also put off by the random italicized sections that took us away from the autobiography to wax on about something sorta related (but not really) to whatever she was writing about.

On the positive, these were some interesting food descriptions, but in the end, I didn't finish the book, not because I gave up, but because the ebook expired and went back to the library and I didn't care enough to get in line for the book again.

View all my reviews

So….yeah…

Thankfully, as mentioned above, there were a lot of food references, and one of those was tarte tatin.  I’ve looked up tarte tatin a number of times for different blogging events, and since I’d just received some apples from a neighbor whose tree was producing abundantly, I decided it was finally the time.

I learned that tarte tatin is almost a simplified apple pie.  It starts with a caramel sauce, adds apples and tops with puff pastry - so good!

This is truly best served the first day, a little warm, but leftovers (warmed up just a bit) are pretty good too.  We particularly love this with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!

Apple Tarte Tatin

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 recipe homemade puff pastry

3 ½ pounds apples

Juice from 1 lemon

¾ cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) cold butter, cubed

Make puff pastry according to recipe instructions. And refrigerate until ready to use.

Peel the apples then cut off the core in thirds or fourths; the apple chunks will be fairly large.  Squeeze the lemon over the apples and stir to coat to prevent browning.  Set aside.

Place the sugar in a dry skillet over medium-high heat.  Allow the sugar to melt about half way undisturbed, then carefully stir and cook until the sugar is fully melted and sugar has reached a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and whisk the butter in.

Return to heat and stir in the apples.  The caramel may seize up, but keep cooking and stirring.  The caramel will thin again as the apples cook.

Once the apples are almost cooked though (before they get mushy), use tongs to move them to a deep pie place, cut side up.  The apples will be quite crowded and will overlap.  Pour any remaining caramel over the apples.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll the puff pastry to a circle a little larger than the pie plate.  Place the circle over the apples and tuck the ends in.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until crust is deeply browned and filling is bubbly.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 60-75 minutes.  This allows the tarte to cool enough that the caramel sets and still be a bit warm.

To serve, place a plate over the tarte, then invert to flip.  Cut and serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.