vintage_recipes | Tart Tatin

What to do on a day leftover from Eden? (The high won't be 80, there's a gentle breeze, the birds are singing, it's practically perfect)

Cook, of course!

What to do for a husband who hasn't griped 'cause you turned off the a/c? Cook one of his favorites, of course! I asked him last night, "If I bake apple pie, will you eat it?"
"Yeah," he said.

So here's what I made:

Tart Tatin - upside-down apple tart.

This is a French apple tart, made famous by the Hotel Tatin. The story goes that the sister responsible for the pastries started making an apple tart one day and realized she'd forgotten to put the crust under the apples. So, she threw the crust on top, shoved it in the oven, and everybody loved it. I saw Julia Child make it on The French Chef and here's a version of the recipe I found under the

Start with the tart crust:
Mix together 1 to 1 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt.
Cut in, until it resembles coarse crumbs, 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter.
When the mix resembles crumbs, mix in 1 egg. Gather it up into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the ice box till you've done the next part:

Peel, core, and quarter enough TART apples (like Granny Smiths) to fill the ovenproof skillet you want to use. Make sure the skillet you choose is small enough to fit the plate you'll turn the tart onto. (learned that the hard way!) The skillet I use takes 4 or 5 apples; you can use 6 or 7, if need be. Don't cut the apples any smaller than quarters; you want them to have some shape left when you're done.

Next: Mix together 3/4 c. sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon. You can also add nutmeg (today I added allspice).

In your skillet, melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter. When it's melted, sprinkle the sugar on top and carefully place the apples. The apples will be on top when it's done, so you don't want to just throw them in. I placed them in the skillet on one cut side, holding the first apple in place till I had the rest of them in. Don't forget the middle!

Cook the apples over medium heat until the bottom half (in the syrup) is soft, ten minutes or so. Then, carefully turn the apples in place, so that the uncooked half is in the syrup. When I turned the apples, I turned the oven on to 375 to preheat. While the apples cooked, I cheated on the tart crust: I patted it out on the serving plate I used, so I knew it would be the right size, covered it in plastic wrap, and put it back in the ice box to chill some more.

When the bottom half of the apples are soft and the oven is preheated to 375, take the skillet off the heat and very. carefully. fit the crust on top. Seal in the juices. Bake it at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and delicious.

When it's done, pull it out of the oven and almost immediately turn it out onto your serving plate: put the plate on top of the skillet, screw up your courage, and flip it. If it didn't flip out quite as prettily as you'd like, do what Julia did: cover it in powdered sugar and shove it under the broiler till the sugar melts.

This is my favorite way to make apple pie. I haven't made an apple pie since I found this recipe!