Tarte Tatin is a wonderful French Classic dessert which is primarily an upside down caramel apple tart. It’s often believed to be tricky but as long as you make a good pastry and get the caramel right, nothing can go wrong. It’s also a great way to use up the apples in the fruit bowl!
Serves 8
Pastry:
175g plain flour
100g cold solid vegetable fat
3tbsp caster sugar
water to bind
Filling:
Apples (I used 2 large Bramleys and 2 Egremont Russett eating apples, if using all large Bramleys use about 3 or 5-6 if using all eating apples)
85g vegan margarine
140g caster sugar
1tbsp cold water
lemon juice, about 2 tbsp
Method:
Make the pastry. Gently rub the cubed fat in to the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs with some large pea sized chunks of fat still visible. This ensures a flaky pastry. Stir in the sugar then add water by the tablespoon and gently bring together with a knife then finish with your hands and wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 20 minutes. Alternatively make in the food processor by whizzing the flour and sugar then pulsing in the fat then the water until just beginning to clump together.
Preheat the oven to 220c/425f/gas 7 and have ready a 9 inch tin or similar, preferably not loose bottomed.
Add the margarine, sugar and water to a frying pan and heat gently to melt the spread and sugar then bring to the boil and boil rapidly, gently tilting and shaking the pan from time to time, until the mixture has turned to a golden caramel.Don’t let it turn too dark as it will taste bitter, you just want it golden amber.
Pour this into the base of the tin.
Peel, core and slice the apples and toss with the lemon juice then arrange over the caramel in the tin in as single a layer as possible.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface until a large enough round to cover the apples in the tin, use the tin to guide you.
Carefully lift the pastry over the apples and tuck around the edges of the apples.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp.
Invert onto a serving plate and serve with well chilled cream or ice cream.
Adapted from the Parragon Big Book of Baking
