183 replies to this topic

[FoodMan]

Thanks you for the excellent expalnation Suvir. It is true Awbrig the blue one is the one where the tarte was baked in and the second one (white) is the one it was inverted into for serving.

How did you like its taste? What would you want to do differently? I know you said make the dough thinnner... But what else? What did you eat it with? I have enjoyed it with creme fraiche or even plain ole vanilla ice cream or just by itself.

What kind of crust did you use?

I absolutely loved its buttery caramely taste Suvir and the crunchy pecans were a delectable addition. As to what I would do different I mentioned making the pastry THICKER not thinner. I know it looks pretty thick in the pic but it is actually pretty thin especially in the center (Julia said to role the dough to a 1/8 inch thickness, I might do a 1/4 inch next time). The other thing I might try and do is to get more color on the apples maybe by cooking a tad longer or even caramelizing the apples with some sugar under the broiler (Julia mentions that as well). I served it with a some Breyers French Vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche would also be great but I had no homemade at the moment. As for the pastry I also used what Julia asks for in the recipe --"Pate Brisee Sucree" or Sweet Short Paste.

Thanks for all the comments

FM

Edited by FoodMan, 09 December 2002 - 11:38 PM.

[Suvir Saran]

Thanks you for the excellent expalnation Suvir. It is true Awbrig the blue one is the one where the tarte was baked in and the second one (white) is the one it was inverted into for serving.

How did you like its taste? What would you want to do differently? I know you said make the dough thinnner... But what else? What did you eat it with? I have enjoyed it with creme fraiche or even plain ole vanilla ice cream or just by itself.

What kind of crust did you use?

I absolutely loved its buttery caramely taste Suvir and the crunchy pecans were a delectable addition. As to what I would do different I mentioned making the pastry THICKER not thinner. I know it looks pretty thick in the pic but it is actually pretty thin especially in the center (Julia said to role the dough to a 1/8 inch thickness, I might do a 1/4 inch next time). The other thing I might try and do is to get more color on the apples maybebe cooking a tad longer or even caramelizing the apples with some sugar under the broiler (Julia mentions that as well). I served it with a some Breyers French Vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche would also be great but I had no homemade at the moment. As for the pastry I also used what Julia asks for in the recipe --"Pate Brisee Sucree" or Sweet Short Paste.

Thanks for all the comments

FM

You are quite the tarte tatin man already!
See, it is easy to become a convert.
It is so simple and yet so addictive.
I too love it for that very smooth texture and yet the very rich caramel flavor.
If you follow Julias recipe, you must have certainly added some lemon, I love that hint of lemon in the apples... I actually add zest as well.
And I happen to be a fan of very thin crust. It is just enough for me to have a slight hint of something cruncy, but not to have it too dense. But that is very individual. I can imagine that it could taste just as great to another with a thicker dough.

I have made it as you do... using Pate Brisee Sucree and also with puff pastry. Both have their own place.

I cook it as per Julias timing and get a darker caramel that I absolutely adore.

I am sure when Mlpc and the other professionals see this, they will teach us both many other subtle nuances.

[FoodMan]

If you follow Julias recipe, you must have certainly added some lemon, I love that hint of lemon in the apples... I actually add zest as well.
And I happen to be a fan of very thin crust. It is just enough for me to have a slight hint of something cruncy, but not to have it too dense. But that is very individual. I can imagine that it could taste just as great to another with a thicker dough.

I have made it as you do... using Pate Brisee Sucree and also with puff pastry. Both have their own place.

Actually I expected Julia to ask for tossing the apples in lemon juice but in the recipe that I used from "Mastering the Art... Volume I" she only asks for tossing them in sugar and optional cinnamon. Since it was my first TT I did not want to stray from the recipe and decided to use lemon juice on my second try (lemon zest sounds good too).
Before reading this thread and Julia's recipe I thought all TT are made with puff pastry. but since julia's recipe asks for "Pate Brisee Sucre" I assumed that this is the more traditional. Am I correct in this assumption?

FM

[Lesley C]

I have a Tarte Tatin recipe in my book Suvir, you should try it out.
I use a combination of Granny Smiths and Goldens, or Cortland apples, and I use pate brisee instead of feuilletee.
A good trick for Tatin is to let it sit a while once baked for the juices to firm up before inverting the pan. You can also let it cool completely, and then heat it lightly on the stove when ready to flip it. Just never flip it when it's hot because the apples sometimes render quite a bit of juice.
I'd add a vanilla bean to the base caramel and I think I bake it for a while before adding the crust.
Boy, I can't remember the details. It's been a while since I made one.

[Suvir Saran]

I hope Awbrig is not upset with me.

Awbrig, your playing innocent, and pretending to make a mistake (or maybe you did make a genuine mistake. Glad to know I am not alone in being fallible), gave me the opportunity to share what I knew about Tarte Tatin.
I hope I have not teased you too much. That was not meant to be the intent.
Do you like Tarte Tatin? I do.
Maybe I can make you one someday... They are great.

[Suvir Saran]

I have a Tarte Tatin recipe in my book Suvir, you should try it out.
I use a combination of Granny Smiths and Goldens, or Cortland apples, and I use pate brisee instead of feuilletee.
A good trick for Tatin is to let it sit a while once baked for the juices to firm up before inverting the pan. You can also let it cool completely, and then heat it lightly on the stove when ready to flip it. Just never flip it when it's hot because the apples sometimes render quite a bit of juice.
I'd add a vanilla bean to the base caramel and I think I bake it for a while before adding the crust.
Boy, I can't remember the details. It's been a while since I made one.

Thanks Lesley!

Do you know off hand what the classic crust would have been made with? What kind of pastry?

[awbrig]

I thought Tarte Tatin was a planet from Star Wars... just kidding I have to try this out soon! thanks...

Edited by awbrig, 10 December 2002 - 12:15 AM.

[Suvir Saran]

I thought Tarte Tatin was a planet from Star Wars... just kidding I have to try this out soon! thanks...

You are a good sport!

[Suvir Saran]

I just pulled out my copy of Larousse Gastronomique. It calls for shortcrust pastry. In fact a French friend that comes from the same town as the Tatin sisters, also makes a very short crust... and his TT is one of the best I have ever eaten.

But I have seen many chefs do it with Puff pastry in the US. Especially at the "fancier" restaurants.

The Gastronomique calls Tarte Tatin:

"The name given to an apple tart that is cooked under a lid of pastry, but served with the pastry underneath and the fruit on top."


Edit: corrected spelling of fruit.

Edited by Suvir Saran, 10 December 2002 - 12:34 AM.

[FoodMan]

I just pulled out my copy of Larousse Gastronomique.  It calls for shortcrust pastry.  In fact a French friend that comes from the same town as the Tatin sisters, also makes a very short crust... and his TT is one of the best I have ever eaten.

But I have seen many chefs do it with Puff pastry in the US.  Especially at the "fancier" restaurants.

The Gastronomique calls Tarte Tatin:

"The name given to an apple tart that is cooked under a lid of pastry, but served with the pastry underneath and the fuit on top."

I guess Pate Brisee Sucre it is.

Thanks Suvir.

FM


*note to self add "Larousse Gastronomique" to Christmas wish list*

[jaybee]

I just pulled out my copy of Larousse Gastronomique. It calls for shortcrust pastry. In fact a French friend that comes from the same town as the Tatin sisters, also makes a very short crust... and his TT is one of the best I have ever eaten.

That is my understanding too. Shortcrust pastry.

[Lesley C]

People, people hold on here!
Pate brisee and pate sucree are not the same thing!
Pate brisee is flaky pastry and pate sucree is shortcrust pastry.
I wouldn't use pate sucree for a tarte Tatin. Brisee is better.

[Steve Klc]

And then there's always pate sablee...

[kitwilliams]

I'm of the group who prefers puff pastry for my tarte tatin, however I bake the pastry on its own and not on top of the apples as I find baking it on the apples it never gets as crispy and sometimes tends to be doughy in the center (anyone else experience this or is it just lame-old me?). So I bake them separately then I invert the apples onto the pastry lined serving platter.

Gee, Suvir, you sure have started something here...I'm absolutely DYING for a tarte tatin now!

[Hub-UK2]

This is my all time favourite recipe. It makes me feel I can bake

I like creating savoury ones as well with caramelised onions.

The master of Tarte Tatin is Chef Michel Roux who gave me permission to reproduce his recipe on my site:

Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin (Upside-down Apple Tart) - http://www.hub-uk.co...7/recip0313.htm

I learnt to cook it from this article:

http://www.hub-uk.co.../recipe0051.htm
And from that I created my own savoury recipe, Hub Leek Tarte Tatin:

http://www.hub-uk.co...0/recip0979.htm

but I now prefer using onions to leeks!

[Suvir Saran]

Gee, Suvir, you sure have started something here...I'm absolutely DYING for a tarte tatin now!

I can eat Tarte Tatin just about anytime.

[kitwilliams]

I can eat Tarte Tatin just about anytime.

Well, you are welcome over anytime! Just give me a few hours notice!

[Suvir Saran]

I can eat Tarte Tatin just about anytime.

Well, you are welcome over anytime! Just give me a few hours notice!

What city/state do I need to be in to avail this welcome?

[kitwilliams]

I can eat Tarte Tatin just about anytime.

Well, you are welcome over anytime! Just give me a few hours notice!

What city/state do I need to be in to avail this welcome?

To be specific, Belmont Heights in Long Beach, California.

D'ya have a trip west in the works?

[paddyh]

Second try at this damn dish: the first time I incinerated it (practically), the second time its underdone. The problem seems to be the amount of time it's cooking on the stovetop, I think. Anyone got any idea how long its got to cook up there, and what's the clue that tells when when to get it in the oven?
Thanks, in anticipation!

[Jon Tseng]

Dunno, but I get the same problem with potstickers!

;-)

J

[jackal10]

Depends on the apples. I like mine still in one piece. I scarecly cook it on the stovetop at all.

I just turn the apple around in the hot caramel on the stove so that they are coated, then whack on the top and put it in a hot oven until the top browns - 20 mins or so

Get the caramel fairly dark, otherwise it is too sweet.

[nightscotsman]

I don't cook the apples at all on the stove top. I've been using Lindsey Shere's recipe from "Chez Panisse Desserts" for years and have ususally had great results.

[espadon1]

After experiencing the same angst you're encountering, I became a practitioner of tarte Tatin cheating.

I use whole cored and peeled apples (the cored inside parallel to the bottom of the skillet) and I make a separate pot of caramelized sugar which I pour into the bottom of the skillet and also over the apples. I then place the skillet with the apples in the oven on a baking sheet (to catch drips) to brown . To ensure a good compact form I place a clean baking sheet on top of the apples with weights (foil wrapped bricks work well). The baking time is about 25 to 30 minutes in a 350 to 400 degree oven, but you best check how things are progressing at the 15 minute mark as every oven is different. You may also find yourself having to pour off some liquid depending on the type of apple you use. I prefer either Cortland, Rome Beauty, Northern Spy, Winesap or Granny Smith apples depending on what looks firmest at the grocer's. These varieties have a higher cellulose content and have less possibility of becoming mush. Once the apples are nearly finished you remove the top baking sheet and cover the skillet with your pastry dough and cook until golden brown.

Another "anti-stovetop" method can be found in the Epicurious Tarte Tatin Recipe[/URL]http://food.epicurio.../view?id=15561.

Best of luck.
Gabriel Pereira

[dano1]

I use plain old red delic. apples peeled, halved and cored-make sure your apples are packed to overflowing the pan. To cook on stove top after the butter and sugar melts you must keep the apples moving in the pan; give the handle of your sautee pan a yank every now and then
until you see the apples "spin" on the caramel. As the caramel darkens you can lower the heat and peek at the apples by lifting one up with tongs. Usually you will find a hot spot on one side of the pan-keep an eye on it so ya don't burn the apples/caramel. Cooking time varies on burner output, size of tart, etc.... but you will smell it.
Cool and top with pastry, bake, you can also spin the tart again occasionally in the oven to make sure it's not sticking and burning.
Cool before turning out to keep the caramel on/in the tart-just give enough heat on a burner to loosen and invert.
hth, danny

[Comfort Me]

While in France many years ago my hostess gave me permission in perpetuity to cheat on Tarte Tatin. She said that she, too, had had many failures, until someone taught her this method.

I make a healthy amount of caramel in the bottom of my skillet. Then I arrange pealed, cored, halved apples on end to firmly pack the skillet. I brush the apples then with butter -- sometimes sprinkling them with cinnamon-sugar, but not always -- and allow them to cook for fifteen or so on the stovetop. Sometimes the apple gods will decide to screw with you and there will be too much liquid. Spoon off some, but not all, of the liquid, then finish cooking the apples in a hot oven.

While the apples are cooking, I cut a piece of puff pastry -- yes, not pastry dough -- to the size of the skillet, brush it with egg wash and dust it with pearl sugar, then bake it off in the hot oven until puffed and golden brown. Invert the pastry onto the apples, then invert the whole thing (carefully) onto a platter, and serve with Glace de Fromage Blanc or a dab of whipped creme fraiche.

[fredbram]

Another approach to "cheating" is to follow your original technique, but just make sure you don't overdue the stovetop cooking at the beginning. Then, after the tart is out of the oven, finish cooking on the stovetop. If you are unsure if it is done, invert onto a plate in your usual way, look at it, and invert it right back into the pan for more caramelizing if need be.

[foodie52]

Hi. I'm using my mom's account and hope to have my own sometime soon.
I spent the summer in France at Anne Willan's chateau as a trainee and one of the dishes her Chef de Cuisine, Randall Price, demonstrates for classes is his Tarte Tatin. His method is very similar to the stovetop methods, but he does one thing that blew me away the first time I saw it, but really makes a whole lot of sense. I'm going to try to explain this the best I can.
After peeling the apples, use a melon-baller to remove the top and bottom of the whole apple. Then slice the apple in half and use the baller to seed the apple, leaving about half a centimeter of the tough part of the core that is above and below the seeds. So now if you are looking at the halved apple, you will have three scoops, seperated by a tiny bit of core.
The middle of the apple has the majority of the pectin, so by leaving this bit, you are adding to the thickness of your caramel and you won't notice the toughness of this part of the apple because it cooks down. After the apples were placed in the caramel and cooked for what seemed like forever (we didn't remove any of the apple juice, even though it makes a big mess), we slapped a round of pate brisee on top, stuck the pan in the oven, and cooked it until the crust was done (I don't remember how long this was. I was too busy staring with horror at the caramel that I knew I was going to have to clean off of the stove-top).
Hope this little tip helped. I thought it was pretty funky.

Andrew King
andrewpking@yahoo.com

[Andy Lynes]

The secret to a good tatin is to peel the apples 24 hours in advance so that some of the liquid in the fruit evaporates. This then reduces the dilution of the caramel by the fruit and produces a superior result.

Your question no doubt will be "how do I prevent oxidization", to which the answer is "you don't, the fruit will be caramelised so it doesn't matter". And in case you think I've gone insane, this method comes to you courtesy of Michelin starred chef at Petrus restaurant in London, Marcus Wareing.

[dumpling]

I have always had good success with the stovetop/oven method. I will slice up the apple(not just half it or quarter it) and arrange it around in the pan on top of the butter and the sugar. I don't like moving it once I've arranged it in the pan but I will rotate the pan on the stove. I'll cook it for about fifteen minutes until it is somewhat brown but not real dark otherwise it will start to burn on you, so watch your heat.

Then I'll put the pastry on and cook in the oven for about 18 to 20 minutes.

Comes out perfectly golden virtually every time. Only time I lost it was when I had to go away from the stove to chase down the niece and nephew.