Apple Tarte Tatin
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6-8
 
You'll need an oven-safe pan for this recipe, so no plastic handles. Dinah prefers cast iron, but any sautée pan about 10" in diameter will work. The tart can be made using store-bought pastry, but if you're feeling ambitious you can make your own. Dinah does a riff on this recipe to get her amazing, flaky crust: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2005/10/roses_favorite_flaky_tender_pi.html.
Ingredients
  • 5-6 Golden Delicious apples or other firm apples that will hold their shape during cooking
  • 4 tbsp salted butter (Plugra and Kerrygold brands are both great quality, though any butter will do!)
  • 4 tbsp granulated sugar
  • pastry for one 9" pie shell (see headnote)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 425°F. Roll out your pastry and trim it to fit the size of the pan you will be using for the tart (see above note). It needn't be exact. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
  2. Peel, core, and quarter the apples.
  3. Heat the pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the melted butter and cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture is a very pale amber. 
Off the heat, place the apple quarters in the pan radially starting on the outer edge of the pan and moving to the center, setting them on their sides and fitting in as many as possible. As they cook they'll shrink and you'll be able to push them closer together and fit in any remaining quarters.
  4. Return pan to the stovetop and cook over medium-high heat until the apples begin to turn a golden brown (about 15 minutes). You can lift one out of the pan to check the color on the bottom. At this point flip over each quarter so the cooked edge faces up and the uncooked edge is face down in the caramel. Continue to cook until the caramel that bubbles up between the apples pieces is a dark amber (10 more minutes, give or take). You can dip a teaspoon in and pull it out to see the color better.
  5. Remove your pastry from refrigerator. Cut 4 or 5 slits in the pastry to allow steam to escape. 
Take the pan of the stovetop, and working quickly put the pastry over the hot apples and put into a 425°F oven until the pastry is golden brown (about twenty minutes). 
Remove pan from oven and immediately invert onto a cooling rack; you can place a rimmed cookie sheet under the cooling rack to catch any drips. Be very careful - use potholders!
  6. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe by dramatic pancake at https://www.dramaticpancake.com/dinah-apple-tarte-tatin-or-apple-butter-magic/