The CookingBites Cookalong: Tarte Tatin

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

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Have you ever made a Tarte Tatin? If not, then now is your chance to try! If you have cooked i successfully before, you can share your wisdom and cook along too. The idea of the Cookalong is that members cook a classic recipe within a certain timescale and share their experience. Its a bit of fun and a chance to learn. Please join in! Tarte Tatin can be made sweet or savoury and can be vegan You can use shortcrust or puff pastry (although most I have eaten are made with puff). Make your own pastry or use shop bought. If you can make a festive Christmas Tarte Tatin all the better.

This well-known dish French tart has a well known (probably apocryphal) history.:

It's one of those dishes with a picturesque, but suspect heritage; legend has it that Stéphanie Tatin, proprietor of a provincial French hotel, left apples for a pie cooking for too long on the stove one day. Alerted to her mistake by the smell of burning, quick-thinking Madame attempted to rescue the situation by covering them with pastry and baking the pie anyway. "After turning out the upside down tart," Wikipedia concludes, "she was surprised to find how much the hotel guests appreciated the dessert." Not the first time a chef has tried to pass off a mistake as a special.

Larousse Gastronomique spoils this charming little anecdote, however, with the bald fact that "the upside-down tart, made with apples or pears, is an ancient speciality of Sologne and is found throughout Orléanais." But still, berets off to les soeurs Tatin for bringing it to wider attention – it's a real corker.
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https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/oct/20/how-to-cook-perfect-tarte-tatin

There is an interesting article here which compares various Chef’s recipes and includes a final tested recipe. I will also post a basic recipe below (see here).

Please add your comments, photos, experiences to this thread. Provisional closing date midnight 4th January 2018 (GMT). Please let us know if you intend to join in.
 
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Oh. This is good. I need to experiment with gluten/dairy free pastry and got a cast iron skillet for my birthday last year.
I bought some ready made gf/df pastry last week and it was awful. I have a plan for a TT.
 
The Guardian Newspaper online had done an interesting feature and provides alot of detailed info including the suggested 3 Apple varieties to use and mentioned several famous Chefs who have prepared it and what their flour mixture was and their biggest dilema was, the soggy pastry dilema.

Perhaps, one should google this article which includes a récipe for the French Traditional Pastry prior to preparing it ..

Good luck to all .. I will not be participating. We are too busy this time of year and we are also leaving on a trip on the 1st January for 8 days 7 nights.

Happy Holidays to all ..
 
Francesca said:
The Guardian Newspaper online had done an interesting feature and provides alot of detailed info including the suggested 3 Apple varieties to use and mentioned several famous Chefs who have prepared it and what their flour mixture was and their biggest dilema was, the soggy pastry dilema.

Perhaps, one should google this article which includes a récipe for the French Traditional Pastry prior to preparing it ..
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Which article are you referring to? I quoted from the Guardian article 'How to Make the Perfect Tart Tatin' and included the link in my top post. Is there another article?
 
@morning glory

The article I had read had Julia Child´s Recipe .. I shall take a look and see if it is the same as your links .. If same I shall clarify and if not, I shall post the link.
 
@ElizabethB

Thank you. The biggest dilema with this dessert is the pastry used. The sogginess is a true issue here ..

Good luck .. A great article !!
 
I'm going to make one savoury (I'm thinking shallots, garlic, anchovies or tomatoes and ?) and one sweet (I'm thinking oranges and lemons with preserved ginger for a Christmassy theme). If time I'll make more as it isn't a difficult time-consuming dish, aside from the danger of the up-side down topping burning and the pastry going soggy (as mentioned by @Francesca)! I've had both happen in my past attempts and have yet to succeed, so this is a challenge for me.
 
Raymond Blanc's recipe for a classic Apple Tarte Tatin: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tarte_tatin_72509

Ingredients
  • 2kg/4½lbs dessert apples, about 12, peeled
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 100g/3½oz caster sugar
  • 60g/2½oz cold unsalted butter, diced
  • 30g/1oz unsalted butter, melted, to add richness
  • 300g/11oz all-butter puff pastry, rolled to a thickness of 3mm/⅛in, cut very slightly larger than the diameter of the tarte tin, pricked with a fork and frozen
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

  2. Cut the apples in half horizontally, remove the cores and slice off the rounded tops and bottoms of the apples so they sit flat in the tin.

  3. Put the water in the bottom of the tin and sprinkle over the sugar. Let it sit for two minutes to allow the water to absorb the sugar.

  4. On a medium heat, cook the syrup until it turns to a pale blonde caramel (do not let it become too dark or the flavour will overpower the apples), then stir in the diced butter - this will stop the caramel cooking and give extra richness to the dish.

  5. Arrange the apples, middles uppermost, around the edge of the tin and then fill in the centre with the remaining apples. It is important to pack them as tightly as possible – press them down with your hands as you go.

  6. Brush the apples with the melted butter and place the tin on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

  7. Remove from the oven and place the disc of frozen pastry on the top. Tuck the edges of the pastry into the dish and prick a few holes with a sharp knife to let the steam out as the dish cooks.

  8. Return to the oven for a further 40-45 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown.

  9. Allow to cool at room temperature for one hour before turning out of the tin and serving warm. Alternatively, make the tarte the day before and reheat as above.
 
Herbie said:
Oh. This is good. I need to experiment with gluten/dairy free pastry and got a cast iron skillet for my birthday last year.
I bought some ready made gf/df pastry last week and it was awful. I have a plan for a TT.
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I've never cooked with gluten free flour. I've used light spelt flour to make pastry but apparently that is not safe for celiacs. I'm willing to give gluten free a try - but which flour?
 
I think I'll try, during the Christmas holidays I'm home a few days. I don't know yet whether sweet or savory or both. I will need a lot of time to read all the suggestions in English!
 
Sandra said:
I think I'll try, during the Christmas holidays I'm home a few days. I don't know yet whether sweet or savory or both. I will need a lot of time to read all the suggestions in English!
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Oh please do try. I have just unearthed a book I have all about Tarte Tatin but it is in French! Here it is - its by Catherine Quévremont. I know a little French but its a bit of a struggle!

Photo on 04-12-2017 at 21.51.jpg
 
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