Tarte Tatin: A holiday post

Jeweled, jammy, caramel-coated apples,

Nestle atop butter-crisp pastry.

What more can I say?

When I made tarte tatin for the first time, it had to be with apples, and it had to be using Claire’s Tarte Tatin recipe with Rough Puff Pastry.

You get this amazing depth from cooking down the apples in maple syrup, brandy and apple cider vinegar. The apples are cooked until they are so soft you can slice them with a spoon, but they aren’t falling apart. They are layered on a base of velvety caramel. And then topped with a layer of rough-puff pastry. Once the pastry is golden brown, and the apple filling is bubbling, you remove it from the oven and swiftly flip it over onto a plate.

Rough puff is a laminated dough which means that you create purposeful and distinct layers of butter throughout the dough. This gives it that crisp, crackly texture. In contrast, pie dough has a more homogenous distribution of butter which gives it all around sturdy texture, but a softer mouth feel. What I love about the Rough Puff Pastry recipe in Dessert Person is that it uses slices of cold butter and grated frozen butter added right to the flour. The grated butter incorporates evenly, and then larger pieces get folded in to create the layers. I geeked out a bit when I first made this pastry dough! A box grater, total gamechanger.

Note: There are a few times where I have made this recipe, but the apples have become too soft with some breaking apart completely. If that happens, salvage what you can and use the broken bits to make apple sauce. It is so good. Sometimes accidents in baking are happy accidents.

Very firm, fresh apples that can withstand a good long bake are important here. I’ve used Pink Lady, Gala and Fuji apples, but use what you have available! Depending on which variety you choose, they may need a bit less or more time. It’s always good to check a bit earlier in apple roasting process to see how your apples are doing.

Also, when making for the first time, the flip can be intimidating. I’ve done it over the sink using oven mitts and I found that helped with any spillage. It’s also great if you have someone by you for moral support or an extra hand.

Wishing all who celebrate during this season a wonderful holiday filled with peace, love, connection and baked goods.