Legend has it that the tarte tatin was a happy accident! In the 1880s at the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France, about 100 miles (160 km) south of Paris, the sisters Tatin were the owners and managers. Stéphanie Tatin did most of the cooking, and overworked one day, she started to make a traditional apple pie but left the apples cooking in butter and sugar for too long. It was too late to start again so she tried to rescue the dish by putting the pastry base on top of the pan of apples, quickly finishing the cooking by putting the whole pan in the oven. She cleverly turned the tart upside down and served it. Her dish was a huge success with that day’s diners and it has never looked back.
Preparation time 15 minutes,
plus chilling
Cooking time 1 hour
220g/7¾oz ready-made puff
pastry
Plain flour, for dusting
120g/4¼oz/heaped ½ cup caster sugar
40g/1½oz unsalted butter
1 rosemary sprig, leaves only, roughly chopped
3–4 apples such as Cox, Reinette or Golden Delicious, peeled, quartered and cored
Large pinch of toasted flaked almonds, plus extra for sprinkling
Crème Fraiche to serve
1. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, then cut out a circle slightly bigger than the size of a 20cm/8in flameproof baking or tatin dish. Roll the pastry over the rolling pin and place the pastry on a baking sheet, cover with cling film and chill for 25–30 minutes. This will prevent the pastry from shrinking during cooking.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Melt the sugar gently in the baking or tatin dish over a medium heat until golden brown, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Sprinkle about a quarter of the rosemary leaves over. Arrange the apples tightly along the edge of the baking or tatin dish in a circle, then make smaller circles of tightly fitted apples within this circle until the based is covered and all the apples are used. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the remaining rosemary and toasted flaked almonds over the apples and place the pastry on top, pushing the edges into the dish. Return the tin to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
A true classic French dessert, French Chef Daniel Galmiche adds his own touch to the traditional recipe to tickle your taste buds…
Win a copy of Daniel Galmiche's French Brasserie Cook book, see page 66