For the first time, my daughter Yulia and I made tarte tatin after watching the French tragicomedy Intouchables, where Driss Bassari ordered this pie in a cafe. This is a simple pastry, despite some exotic preparation, atypical for apple pies. Quite rarely, apple pies are baked in this way, for which there is an explanation and even a legend, or not a legend.

French “inside out” apple pie Tarte Tatin, often called upside-down, is prepared like a quiche pie, where fried or lightly caramelized apples in sugar and butter are placed on top of the almost finished dough. Surprisingly, there is a lot of research on the origins and variations of the tarte tatin recipe. The most believable stories - the pie is a traditional pastry for the Sologne region, Central France. And also a cute story about the sisters Caroline and Stéphanie Tatin, who at the end of the 19th century forgot to prepare the dough or spoiled it, so they simply covered the filling with another dough at the very end of cooking.

The pie can be prepared in different ways, using not only apples. You can find tarts with pears, peaches and even vegetables. Tarts are a typical French dish. The filling is laid out on shortbread dough or breeze, which is prepared without salt and sugar, or with a small amount of them. Small portioned tarts are a very common snack or dessert. Italian pie is also prepared on the basis of shortcrust pastry and can be stored frozen for quite a long time, if necessary.

It is believed that tarte tatin should contain dough laid on top of the apple filling and baked in a wood-burning oven - the apples are covered with dough. In reality, they don’t always do this, preferring the “classic” arrangement. Although, if you want, the pie can be turned over when serving. A matter of taste, nothing more. The tart is served warm with cream or whipped cream. However, for my taste, cold apple pie with tea is very tasty. You probably remember what I already told you.

Tarte Tatin requires firm apples that will retain their wedge shape when caramelized or fried. The dough for the pie is made from shortbread, brize, or any dough that is soft and crumbles.

We decided to cook the tarte tatin upside down. As it turns out, it’s not difficult and it turns out beautifully. The process of caramelizing apples is almost identical to what we did for or. Preparing the dough and filling does not take much time. If desired, you can prepare small tatin tartlets, following the principle of a large tart - it turns out perfectly.

Tarte Tatin. Step by step recipe

Ingredients (4-6 servings)

  • Large firm apples 3-4 pcs
  • Wheat flour 1.5 cups (195 g)
  • Butter 150 g
  • White sugar for dough 1 tbsp. l.
  • Mixture of brown and white sugar 1 glass
  • Egg 1 piece
  • Salt, cinnamon, lemon zest spices
  1. The dough and filling for the tarte tatin are prepared at the same time. For the filling you need large apples with firm flesh so that it does not turn into puree during cooking. Of the varieties available to us, sweet and sour apples by Renet Simirenko and Granny Smith will work well. These are the most affordable apples we have. They are quite hard and the filling turns out great.

    Firm apples for filling

    2. How to make apple filling

  2. Peel and seed the apples. Cut each apple into 4-6 slices, depending on size. To bake the tart, you will need a round pan with a high side. Usually, when such pies are baked, they use metal molds similar to those in which they are baked. It turned out that it is convenient to cook in silicone molds of a suitable size.

    Peel the apples and cut them into large slices

  3. It’s worth trying on how many apple slices will fit in the mold if they are placed close to each other in one layer. The rest of the slices can be eaten or saved for portioned tartlets. We fit slices of three apples, cut into four parts, into a mold with a diameter of 26 cm.

    Try on the number of apple slices to match your shape

  4. In a frying pan, mix 50 grams of butter, a glass of sugar - half brown and white, the zest of half a lemon and 1 tsp. cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Place the frying pan on low heat and stir with a wooden spatula. The butter will heat up and mix with the other ingredients to form a liquid hot caramel. Let the mixture simmer briefly until the sugar is completely dissolved.

    Mix all ingredients for caramel and heat

  5. Place peeled apples into the caramel and simmer them for 20 minutes over low heat, turning occasionally with a fork. If the apples are firm, they will retain their shape. The apples for the pie filling are ready if they can be easily and effortlessly pierced with a knife. By the way, the caramel is very hot, be careful.

    Stew apples in caramel until soft

    6. How to prepare the dough

  6. Tarte tatin is baked with shortcrust pastry, which is easy and quick to prepare. No added water or milk, with a minimum of sugar. Place the sifted flour in a bowl, add 1 tbsp. l. sugar and egg yolk, having previously separated it from the white. Add 100 grams of softened butter - it is better not to heat it, but take it out of the refrigerator in advance and leave it at room temperature.

    Mix flour, butter and egg yolk for dough

  7. Using a fork, thoroughly mash all the ingredients to form a loose, dry mixture. Next, knead the mixture with your hands, compacting it and achieving maximum homogeneity. Gradually the crumbs will disappear and the shortbread dough will become homogeneous. Do not knead the dough for a long time, as the heat from your hands will melt the butter. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in film. You don’t have to put it in the refrigerator, as is done with the dough for.

    Shortcrust pastry ready for baking

    8. How to cook tarte tatin

  8. Grease the chosen pie pan with a small amount of butter. Arrange the caramelized apple slices as planned during preparation. It is better to arrange the apples in a circle, distributing them tightly along the side, and then place the remaining slices in the middle. This way, all the apples will be spread evenly in one layer over the entire area. Drizzle all the remaining caramel over the apples.

    Arrange the apples in the mold and pour over the caramel

  9. Roll out the dough into a circle with a diameter slightly larger than the mold - literally 2-3 cm. By the way, it is better to do this not with a rolling pin, but to splash the dough with your palms on a table dusted with flour. Cover the apples laid out in the mold with dough and fold the edge inside the mold so that the dough is between the apples and the side approximately half the height of the mold. Prick the dough with a fork so that the steam does not deform it during baking.

    Cover the filling with dough and prick with a fork.

  10. Place the mold in an oven preheated to 190-200 degrees. Typically the cake takes more than 30 minutes to bake. You should be guided by the readiness of the dough that covers the filling. When the dough begins to brown a little, the pie is guaranteed to be ready. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cake cool slightly.

    Bake the pie until the dough is ready

  11. Next, transfer the tart to a large plate. The filling most likely contains liquid caramel, which flows and can cause burns. Cover the pie pan with a plate and turn it over. The cake will fall out of the pan onto the plate. If a little liquid leaks out, this is normal. The finished pie looks like a small pizza with a thick layer of dark amber apple filling.

    Ready-made apple pie tarte tatin

    12. How to serve the pie

  12. Carefully, without applying force, cut the apple pie into pieces - the amount you want. It is better to do this with the edge of a knife, so the shortbread dough crumbles and breaks less. Place pieces of pie on dessert plates. If desired, you can serve the apple pie with whipped cream or cream. Cooled pie goes well with

This pie has such a sonorous name, with a French accent, delicious and intriguing. What is Tarte Tatin? Let's figure it out. Tarte is a shortbread pie typical of French cuisine with any filling on a thin crumbly crust. Tarte Tatin is a fruit (most often apple) upside-down tart baked “in reverse”, with the filling facing down, which received its name in honor of the French Tatin sisters, with whom the first mention of this pie is associated. According to one version, Mademoiselle Tatin put the apples in the mold, forgetting about the crust, and then came to her senses and covered the filling with dough - and this is how the famous, beloved dessert appeared. And the pie, I must say, is truly magnificent! The filling is made of apples stewed in caramel until amber translucent and flowing with sweet aromatic juice - this is something unreal! And the soft and delicate shortbread cake, due to the fact that during baking it is on top and does not float in the liquid, retains its crumbly structure.
If you want to bake Tarte Tatin, I advise you to choose sweet varieties of apples for the filling, not too juicy - excess liquid is not needed here. It is better if the baking dish is thick-walled, ideally cast iron, so the filling will warm up well. It is not advisable to use a springform pan; the apple juice will leak during the cooking process.

To prepare Apple Tart Tatin you will need the following ingredients:

Dough:
100 g butter,
100 g sugar,
1 egg
250 g flour,
a pinch of salt.

Filling:
500 g small sweet apples,
150 g sugar,
30 g butter,
0.5 tsp. cinnamon,
citric acid on the tip of a knife,
4 tbsp. l. water.

How to make Apple Tart Tatin:

So, let's move on to the process of preparing apple tart Tatin.

    First, prepare the caramel. Pour sugar into a baking dish (with a thick bottom!), add water with citric acid diluted in it. Theoretically, you can melt dry sugar into caramel, but it can melt unevenly and burn, so I usually use water. All the same, the water will evaporate and in the end you will get the same caramel. And citric acid prevents crystallization, that is, the caramel will be smooth, transparent and homogeneous, without grains of sugar.

    Heat the sugar and water over medium heat until the syrup begins to darken. Like this.

    Remove the pan from the heat; the caramel will harden as it cools.
    Now let's do the dough. Combine softened butter with egg and sugar (you can also make unsweetened dough, depending on your taste), add a pinch of salt.

    Mix with a mixer.

    Add flour...

    ... and knead the soft dough. It’s better to put it in the refrigerator so that it doesn’t float in the warmth while we make the filling.

    For the filling, carefully wash and dry the apples, peel them and cut out the cores. Cut the apples into large slices and place them in the pan on top of the caramel, close to each other.

    Sprinkle the apples with ground cinnamon and spread the butter cut into small cubes on top.

    Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment into a layer slightly larger than the diameter of the mold (mine has a diameter of 25 cm).

    Using parchment, transfer the dough into the pan and cover the filling with it. We tuck the edges of the dough inward along the sides. Prick the dough with a fork to prevent it from puffing up during baking.

    Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 20-30 minutes. The crust should be evenly dry on top.

    Remove the finished pie from the oven. As soon as the caramel sauce stops boiling, cover the pie with a plate, turn it over and remove the pan in which it was baked. That's all, the Tarte Tatin is almost ready. Let it cool a little more so that the caramel apple syrup thickens, and you can try it! Enjoy your tea!



This delicious dessert was created by two French girls at the end of the 18th century, sisters named Tatin. There are many legends about this pie, but the most truthful of them says that one day, one of the sisters forgot about it while preparing an apple pie. As a result, it burned, but the girl decided not to throw it away. She turned the pie over with the apples facing up and served it that way. None of the guests noticed the trick, and everyone was happy.

You can use different fruits as a filling in Tarte Tatin, for example, pears, peaches, quinces, apricots or a mixture of them. This pie features light, flaky pastry, a crispy caramel crust, and juicy fruit—it's a great combination! Tarte Tatin can be served with sour cream or whipped cream. Jamie Oliver simply loves it and often eats it with ice cream.

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5. Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with flour and roll out the puff pastry until it is just over 0.5cm thick and wide enough to cover your frying pan. You will cook the tarte Tatin, leaving about 5cm around the edges. Set the dough aside.

2 Since the main ingredient of this pie is apples, we will need good and tasty ones. Peel them, then cut them in half horizontally and use a teaspoon to discard the seeds and core.


3 Place the sugar in a heatproof frying pan set over medium heat and add the Calvados, vanilla seeds and bean. Allow the sugar to dissolve and cook until the mixture forms a light caramel consistency. Just remember, never touch hot caramel as it can burn you very badly.

4 Once the caramel has reached the desired consistency - it should be a lovely chestnut colored liquid - add your apples. Stir everything thoroughly in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, the apples will begin to soften.


5 Add the cubed butter, then spread the prepared dough on top, so as to completely cover our pie. Quickly and carefully fold the dough down the edges - it's best to use a wooden spoon to avoid burning yourself on the caramel.


6 Bake the tarte Tatin for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Remove it from the oven. To make the pie look like a tarte tatin you have to turn it over, it's not that hard - but you do have to be careful with the hot caramel. Use a serving dish or board larger than the frying pan and use an oven mitt to protect your hand from getting burned. Place a board or plate on top of the pan, then quickly, carefully and confidently turn the entire structure over.




7 Set the tart aside for a few minutes to allow the caramel to cool slightly, then cut into portions and serve with a dollop of sour cream or ice cream.


Cooking instructions

45 minutes Print

    1. Buy puff pastry. Defrost the sheet according to the “instructions”. A little trick - if you defrost the dough on cling film, then it’s convenient to roll it out and transfer it to a baking dish, without having to wash the flour off the table. While the dough is defrosting...

    2. Wash and peel the apples, remove and discard the center of the apple, put the skins in a blender, add a bag of vanilla sugar, a little cinnamon, 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, 5-7 cloves of orange zest (from which as much of the white part as possible has been cut out). ; if you soak the peels in cold water for a day, they will NOT taste bitter at all, although the bitterness not only changes the taste, but also gives it some piquancy - in general, we leave this point of the recipe to your choice), cut it at random, and also - into a blender, all the pieces of apple that were not cut very well - in the same place as 1 apple (or half of it, if you didn’t have enough apples to gracefully lay them out in a baking dish). You will not spoil the pie if you add 1-3 teaspoons of white table (dry) wine or cognac to the blender. Beat until it becomes a paste. Tool Blender Any blender can handle turning soup into puree. Be it Braun, or Bosch, or Kitchen Aid. This is still not grinding ice. The main thing is that the jug is glass or steel. Hot soup is not for plastic. There are, of course, immersion blenders that can be used to make puree directly in the pan. But the editors of the Afisha-Food magazine give preference to those with jugs. Their results are more tender.

    3. Take a mold, put baking paper (or parchment) on it, sprinkle it with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar (if the apples are sour, you can take a little more sugar), cut the apples into thin slices (slices) and place them beautifully in the mold. We distribute the “mush” from the blender into the center of our apples (it is NOT necessary to spread it to the edges of the pan - it will spread on its own during the baking process).
    Tool Baking paper For even baking, it is better to place open pies and quiches in the oven on a wire rack, and to prevent the sauce boiling from the heat from dripping between the rods, baking paper will help. For example, the Finns produce a good one - it is quite dense and is already divided into sheets that are easy to get out of the box. And nothing more is required from paper.

    4. Roll out purchased dough on film and cover the apples with it. We remove the polyethylene from it. Pierce the dough with a fork and place in a preheated oven. For baking time and temperature conditions, see the “instructions” written for the dough.

    5. Take out the pie. Cover the mold with a dish on which our pie will appear and turn the mold over. Be careful, the liquid from the cake is very hot and sticks to the skin too well and quickly. Very carefully (so as not to disturb the arrangement of apples) remove the parchment. Cut the pie into pieces. Transfer to serving plates and decorate with strawberries (or whatever comes to hand that matches your inspiration).