Apple tarte tatin

Ingredients

• For dusting, plain flour
• 3 sheets puff pastry
• 5-6 small eating apples
• 100 grams caster sugar
• 100 millilitres bourbon
• 1 vanilla pod, sliced lengthways with seeds scraped out
• 50 grams unsalted butter, cubed

Tried and true

There’s nothing quite like warm apple, gooey caramel, and flaky pastry. This tarte has all three and is absolutely delicious. It’s a bit of a trickier recipe but absolutely worth the extra effort for a special occasion or a treat when it’s cold and miserable outside. Try to keep the pastry as thin as you can without it breaking and fill the pan tightly with apples so they stay nicely in place when you turn out the tart.

Method

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 190˚C. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and lay out the three sheets of puff pastry. Cut each in half and lay on top of each other so you have 6 halves sitting in a stack. Take your rolling pin (or a bottle of wine!) and roll out in a rough circle until about 5 millimetres thick. Set the pastry aside to use later once the caramel and apples are cooked.

Step 2

Peel your apples and cut in half horizontally, removing the pips and core with a small knife or teaspoon.

Step 3

Take an ovenproof pan (a pan that can go both on the stovetop and in the oven) and put on a medium heat on the stovetop. Add the bourbon, vanilla pod and seeds, and sugar, and heat until the sugar is dissolved. You won’t need to stir this and the mixture will start to bubble quite vigorously – just remember not to touch or taste it as hot caramel will give you a nasty burn!

Step 4

Once the caramel looks and smells delicious – it should be a lovely chestnut brown – add your halved apples. Carefully stir everything in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples start to soften. I flip my apples about half way through so they are fully coated with the lucious caramel.

Step 6

Remove the pan from the heat, scatter over the cubed butter and gently lay the pastry over the top, pushing it down around the edges using a wooden spoon. Fold in any outside edges into the pan.

Step 7

Bake the tarte Tatin for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden, with crispy caramel pieces bubbling up from under the edges. Take it out of the oven and turn it out onto a board or plate that’s bigger than the pan – make sure you have oven mitts/tea towels to hold the pan as you flip it. The tart is most delicious when eaten warm with ice-cream or clotted cream.

Notes

• Depending on your ovenproof pan, the cooking time could vary (you may need longer) – you can check if the pastry is cooked through by gently lifting a corner and testing the underside, while still in the oven.
• I prefer using sweet apples like royal gala but you can use any types of apples that you like to eat.

Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver’s The world famous tarte tatin as seen on www.jamieoliver.com