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| Tarte Tatin |
The decider was the finding of my ancient cast-iron pan. I hadn't set eyes on it since the flat move, three whole years ago. It was the pan I always reached for when caramelisation was on my mind - and only that one would do to burnish sugar to the perfect degree. Scrabbling around in our dimly-lit store, piled high with 'stuff' we couldn't discard but didn't have room for in a tiny flat', my hand grasped a familiar handle, and it felt good. After trying to decide for days what pudding to make for a special dinner, here was the serendipitous answer - it had to be Tarte Tatin.
At 20cm it's the perfect 4 portion size. I use the word 'portion' rather than 'person' with deliberation because second helpings are more than welcome when it comes to Tarte Tatin. Anyway, it's mostly apples, well mine is because being mean with the fruit in a Tarte Tatin is a sin. No slabs of pastry and a few mimsy slices of apple thank you very much. Apple halves please with quarters allowed only to plug the gaps. I'm a fundamentalist about the pastry too. Purists look away now - I use rough-puff, not puff, and not just because it's easier to make. It is ridiculously easy but it also produces a pastry with 'bite' to perfectly balance the filling.
Now, I'm as keen as anyone to shop seasonally and locally and there's an English apple for most occasions, but the fact is our apple stores are now bare and expecting a Brit not to eat apples for 4 or 5 months a year is just too cruel. My apple of choice for this dish is the Braeburn but there are over 3,000 varieties of apple and if we don't use them, we will lose them. These days Braeburns are grown in southern England but were discovered in New Zealand where they're just finishing harvesting this year's crop. In England they're picked as late as November and store well for up to 4 months. The fruit is firm and crisp with just the right level of sweetness to stand up to a bit of caramelising without collapsing into a mush.
I must have consulted a recipe the first time I made Tarte Tatin but it's so long ago I no longer remember who to credit. Still, it's a classic and it's lovely and my pastry recipe is courtesy of the Roux brothers.
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| Slice of Tarte Tatin with double cream |
Tarte Tatin
(Serves 4 or two greedy people)
You need 150g (6oz) Rough-Puff
This makes double the amount you need:
125g (4 oz) soft plain flour
125g (4 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Pinch of salt
60ml (2 fl oz) iced water
4 apples (Braeburn or similar), halved and cored
40g (2 oz) unsalted butter
70g (2 oz) unrefined cane sugar
To make rough-puff pastry, add the salt to the flour and place on a work surface. Add the butter and rub it into the flour. When the butter cubes are small and half squashed, form a well and pour in the iced water, gradually mixing with a knife until everything holds together - do not knead or your pastry will be tough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 1cm thick. Fold in three, bottom to mid-point, then top to bottom, and turn 90 degrees. Roll out again to a rectangle and fold in three again. You have now completed '2 turns'. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (If you only want enough pastry for one tart, cut in half at this point and freeze the unwanted half for later and, when you want to use it, defrost, roll and give it 2 more turns).
Roll out the pastry to a rectangle again and repeat the folding process to complete two more turns. Rest in the fridge for a further 30-60 minutes.
Roll out the pastry thinly (cut in two first if you decided to make two rounds) to a rough circle and cut a disc(s) of around 22cm/9". Place on a lightly floured tray in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 220C (Fan 200C)/Gas 7
Melt the butter in a 20cm (8") heavy-based, oven-proof pan. Add the sugar and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes to caramelise. Add the apples, round side down, and cook for 5 minutes. Top with the chilled pastry disc, tucking the edges down inside the pan, and cook for 2 minutes. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 4-5 minutes. Place a serving plate on top of the pan and invert to turn out (take care not to burn yourself with hot caramel).
Good with double cream or vanilla ice cream.
