- 8
- 25 mins
- 60 mins
Ingredients
- For the Pastry Dough:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter (very cold and cubed)
- 1 tbsp vegetable shortening
- 3 tbsp chilled water
- For the Tart:
- 4-5 Red Delicious Apples
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/8 cup Cointreau
- 1 vanilla pod seeds
Preparation
Step 1
Prepare the Pastry Dough:
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar and salt) in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for 2 seconds to mix well.
Add butter and shortening. Pulse a few times until the mixture is crumbly. Add the chilled water and pulse a few more times until dough separates from the sides of the mixer.
Remove the ball of dough from the food processor, cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the Tart:
Peel and core the apples. Cut into 8 pieces each. Reserve in a bowl with chilled water and a splash of lemon juice to prevent browning.
On a 10 inch diameter non-stick skillet of about , prepare the caramel by heating the sugar, cointreau and butter over medium heat. (The skillet must be oven proof.) The mixture will start to bubble almost immediately. Let it do so for about 5 minutes until it starts changing to a caramel color.
Remove the caramel from the fire. Incorporate the Vanilla seeds and using a wooden spoon swirl it around to mix well and destroy the bubbles. Very carefully place the apples around the skillet as you like. The apples will shrink during the cooking process so it is very important that you pack them tightly. Be really careful not to stick your fingers in the HOT caramel.
Preheat oven to 375° F. Bring the skillet with caramel and apples back to the stove and cook on high heat for about 10 minutes. The apples will release a lot of juice. The high heat will help evaporate most of the liquid. At the end of the 10 minutes you should see that the juices have mostly caramelized. This is important because you don't want to many juices flowing out of the Tarte Tatin.
Meanwhile turn the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and using a rolling pin roll dough to a 12 inch diameter circle. (Always a bit larger than the skillet used so you can tuck in the ends on the sides)
Remove the skillet from the fire and let cool for about 5 minutes. Place prepared circle of dough on top of the apples. Really careful again with the HOT caramel, tuck the ends of the dough on the sides of the skillet so that no juices escape. Make a hole on top to let steam escape and the dough remains flat. Is important to be quick through this process so that the pastry dough doesn't melt.
Put the skillet in the oven and cook for 20 minutes until the though cooks and turns golden.
Remove skillet from the oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. This prevents juices on the tart to be too thin when flipping. Using long oven mitts or kitchen towels to protect your arms, place a serving dish on top of the skillet. With confidence, speed and care, flip the Tarte Tatin. Voilà!
Notes
Serve with Crème Fraîche spiked with a bit of Calvados or mixed with lemon peel, sugar and vanilla. Enjoy!