Tart Tatin Cooks Country Recipes

MARTHA'S FAVORITE TARTE TATIN

Steps:

• Halve and core apples. Set aside one half. Quarter remaining apples and transfer to a large bowl. Squeeze lemon over apple slices and set aside.
• Combine sugar and water in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat; immediately reduce heat to medium and cook until mixture begins to thicken and turn amber. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
• Place reserved apples in center of skillet. Decoratively arrange remaining apple slices, cut side up, in skillet around reserved apples. Continue layering slices until level with top of skillet. Cut any remaining apples into thick slices to fill in gaps. If fruit does not completely fill pan, tart will collapse when inverted.
• Place skillet over low heat and cook until syrup thickens and is reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Do not let syrup burn. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
• Roll out pate brisee to a 10- to 11-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick; transfer to a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Place pate brisee over apples and tuck edges. Transfer skillet to prepared baking sheet; transfer baking sheet to oven and bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 15 to 20 minutes. Loosen pastry from skillet using a sharp knife. Place a rimmed platter over skillet; quickly and carefully invert. Serve immediately.

APPLE TARTE TATIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Coat a 10-inch oven-proof skillet with butter. Sprinkle sugar evenly over the top of the butter.
• Place apple quarters, rounded sides down, on top of the butter and sugar in a circular pattern.
• Place skillet over medium-high heat and cook until butter melts and sugar dissolves and begins to caramelize. Continue to cook until apples soften and caramel begins to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Sprinkle work surface with flour and roll pie dough into an 11-inch circle. Pinch edge to create a ruffle around crust.
• Place crust on top of apples and tuck in edges around apples.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate over the top of the pan and carefully invert to release tarte from the pan. Scrape any remaining apples stuck to the pan back on top of crust.

TARTE TATIN

Steps:

• Roll the pastry to a 3mm-thick round on a lightly floured surface and cut a 24cm circle, using a plate as a guide. Lightly prick all over with a fork, place on a baking sheet, then cover and freeze while preparing the apples.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Peel, quarter and core the apples. Put the sugar in a flameproof 20cm ceramic tatin dish or a 20cm ovenproof heavy-based frying pan and place over a medium-high heat. Cook the sugar for 5-7 mins to a dark amber caramel syrup that's starting to smoke, then turn off the heat and stir in the 60g diced chilled butter.
• To assemble the tarte tatin, arrange the apple quarters very tightly in a circle around the edge of the dish first, rounded-side down, then fill in the middle in a similar fashion. Gently press with your hands to ensure there are no gaps. Brush the fruit with the melted butter.
• Bake in the oven for 30 mins, then remove and place the disc of frozen puff pastry on top - it will quickly defrost. Tuck the edges down the inside of the dish and, with a knife, prick a few holes in the pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake for a further 40-45 mins until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
• Allow to cool to room temperature for 1 hr before running a knife around the edge of the dish and inverting it onto a large serving plate that is deep enough to contain the juices. Serve with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.

TART TATIN COOK'S COUNTRY

Steps:

• 1. For the pastry: Mix flour, sugar, and salt in food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter over dry ingredients; process until mixture resembles cornmeal, 7 to 12 seconds. Turn mixture into medium bowl; add egg and stir with fork until little balls form. Press balls together with back of fork, then gather dough into ball with hands. Wrap in plastic, then flatten into 4-inch disk. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. (Can be refrigerated overnight; let stand at room temperature to warm slightly before further use.) 2. Unwrap dough and turn out onto well-floured work surface. Sprinkle with additional flour. Starting from disk center outward, roll dough into 12-inch circle, strewing flour underneath to prevent sticking. Slide lightly floured, rimless cookie sheet or pizza peel under crust (see illustration 1), cover with plastic, and refrigerate while preparing apples. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. 3. For the filling: Melt butter in 9-inch skillet or tarte Tatin pan; remove from heat and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Following illustrations 2 through 3, arrange apples in skillet. 4. Return skillet to high heat; cook until juices turn from butterscotch to rich amber color, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using fork or tip of paring knife, turn apples onto uncaramelized sides (illustration 4). Return skillet to highest heat; boil to cook uncaramelized sides of apples, about 5 minutes longer. 5. Remove skillet from heat. Slide prepared dough over skillet (illustration 5), and, taking care not to burn fingers, tuck dough edges gently against skillet wall (illustration 6). 6. Bake until crust is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Set skillet on wire rack; let cool about 20 minutes. Loosen edges with knife, place serving plate over top of skillet (illustration 7), turn tart upside-down, then remove skillet (illustration 8). Scrape out any apples that stick to skillet and put them back into place.

PEACH TARTE TATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Melt the butter in a medium ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the sugar and salt until it looks like wet sand. Reduce the heat to medium and add the peaches. Cook, shaking the skillet, until the syrup is dark brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, trim the corners from the puff pastry to make a round. Remove the skillet from the heat and top the peaches with the puff pastry, tucking in the edges; cut three 2-inch slits into the top.
• Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the skillet, then invert onto a rimmed serving plate.

APPLE TART TATIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven 425 degrees F.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter until slightly bubbly. Add the sugar and stir in with a wooden spoon. Once blended, add the vanilla and cinnamon stick and stir to combine and bring out the vanilla caviar. Continue simmering to make a caramel. Stir in the brandy and orange juice to deglaze the pan and continue cooking until it becomes a smooth caramel. Pour 2 ounces into the bottom of each of 6 ramekins, then place 4 pieces of apple in each 8-ounce ramekin. Top off with a little more caramel and bake 15 to 20 minutes until almost tender. Top with rounds of puff pastry and bake another 10 to 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let cool and turn upside down onto a plate to remove from ramekins.

EASY TARTE TATIN (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Adjust rack to middle position in oven and then heat to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the puff pastry on the parchment. Bake until golden brown and puffed, 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter; press lightly to flatten if domed.
• Meanwhile, melt butter in a 12-inch, nonstick skillet over high heat. Remove the pan from heat and spinkle evenly with the sugar. Lay the apples in the skillet. Return to heat. Cook, stirring apples halfway through, until the juices in the pan turn a rich amber color and apples are carmelized, about 15 minutes.
• Remove apples from the pan one at a time. Arrange them in overlapping rows on the pastry square, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Spoon about half of the pan juices over the apples.
• Whisk the cream and Grand Marnier (if using) into the remaining juices in the pan. Bring to a simmer. Pour some sauce over the tart just before serving, passing the remaining sauce separately.
• FOR PEAR TATIN: Substitute 2 lbs. pears (about 4) for the apples. You may need to increase the carmelization time to 20-25 minutes. Use Poire William instead of Grand Marnier if using a liquor.
• LIQUOR OPTION FOR APPLES: Cognac. I believe it is a classically French pairing with apple desserts. It's not the Cook's Illustrated version, tho, if you want to use strictly their recipe. I used it in a different tart recipe once, and it was awesome. Thanks to the first reviewer for this idea!