Tarte tatin
Caramelised apples baked under a butter-pastry lid, flipped at the table. Less fragile than it sounds.
Ingredients
- 8 firm apples (Cox or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, halved
- 150 g sugar
- 60 g butter, cubed
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry (250 g), chilled
Method
- Sprinkle sugar evenly in a 24 cm cast-iron skillet. Dot the butter over the top.
- Pack the apple halves cut-side up in a tight spiral around the pan.
- Set over medium-high heat. As the sugar melts and goes amber, baste the apples with the syrup. 15–20 min.
- Once the caramel is deep amber, off the heat. Drape the puff pastry over the apples; tuck the edges down inside the pan.
- Bake at 200 °C / 390 °F for 25–30 min until the pastry is deep golden.
- Rest 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge. Place a serving plate over the pan and flip — confidently, in one motion.
If the caramel goes too dark, the tarte will taste burnt. Pull it off the heat the second it hits amber; it’ll keep cooking from the pan’s stored heat while you place the pastry.