Apple Tarte Tatin Recipe

One look at a picture of an apple tarte Tatin and you'll know it's a treat you want to sink your teeth into. One little hint of the aroma as it cooks will confirm that. And one bite will secure this baked good's place in your regular roundup — it's that good, and it's really not too hard to make, either. But who came up with the idea for such a unique, quasi-inside-out treat in the first place?

"It's actually a cool story," says chef and recipe developer Eric Ngo of Frenchie the Toast. While the tarte Tatin has numerous origin stories, National Geographic indicates that it was in fact unintentionally created in the late 19th century. The source explains that the two Tatin sisters ran a hotel by the same name in a town south of Paris, where one of them also worked as the chef. During a hectic evening, she accidentally baked an apple tart upside down or with a missing pastry base (so the story goes). As it turns out, the resulting dish was a hit with guests and has been popular ever since.

It will surely be popular in your home too, just so long as you don't burn the caramel which is about the only mistake that's easy to make in this "intermediate level" dish, says Ngo.

It's almost disconcerting how few ingredients you need to make a baked pastry treat as flavorful and, frankly, fancy as this one, but so it goes. All you need to make three servings of apple tarte Tatin is ½ cup of sugar, a roll of puff pastry, four peeled and cored apples, and ¼ cup of unsalted butter. Yep — just four ingredients! For added zest, you can always sprinkle on a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Start off by cutting discs out of the puff pastry to fit the size of your silicone tart mold. Store the pastry discs in the refrigerator then move on to prepping the apples. Peel and core the four apples and cut them each into eighths.

Next, put the sugar in a small saucepan and cook it on medium heat until it becomes caramel. Then, lower the heat and add the butter to stop the caramel from burning, stirring until it is fully dissolved. "The most crucial step would be this caramel making part," Ngo says, adding: "Be careful to not burn the caramel! As soon as the sugar starts to caramelize (when it becomes brown) be sure to stop it from getting too dark by turning off the heat and adding the butter and stirring. Be careful not to burn yourself."

Finally, add the apples and cook them until they are soft — you should be able to stab them with a knife and pull it out easily — then remove the pan from the heat.

Now it's time to preheat the oven to 350 F. Then, layer the apple slices in the silicone mold, placing them in a circular flower pattern. Next, cover the apples with the puff pastry discs — don't worry if the pastry wrinkles and folds, just work it in. Lastly, pierce a small hole in the middle to allow steam to escape.

Once the assembly is finished, set the mold on a baking tray and bake the tartes for 30 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown.

Take the baking tray out of the oven and cover it with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Atop that, place another baking tray or a large plate so that the mold is between the two trays. Then, carefully flip the mold while maintaining pressure on the top and bottom surfaces. Now, take the silicone mat (or parchment paper) and tray off and carefully remove the mold to reveal the apple tarte Tatins.

To serve them, Ngo recommends a pairing of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (or both, yes). As for leftovers, he says, "This is best eaten when still warm and eaten the same day it is baked."