Classic Tart Tatin
Description
This classic dessert never fails to impress. With meltingly tender apples cooked in rich caramel, crisp puff pastry and served with some softly whipped cream, it is my idea of heaven. It was invented by the Tatin sisters in their rustic restaurant in the Loire Valley, and requires careful cooking of the caramel and lots of confidence to flip it out of the pan. You need a 22cm ovenproof frying pan with a heavy base, or a 22cm round Le Creuset-style gratin dish, as the tart is cooked on the stove top before finishing in the oven.
Method
First roll out the pastry into a circle ever so slightly larger than the frying pan, and refrigerate until needed. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put half the sugar into the frying pan with the water and stir to wet the sugar. Over a gentle heat, cook the sugar steadily to a light golden caramel, shaking the pan occasionally and taking care not to burn the sugar at the edges. Remove the pan from the heat immediately so the caramel does not darken too much.
Add the apples, arranging them in a neat pattern around the pan and packing them in as closely as you can. Mix the remaining sugar, flour and cinnamon and sprinkle over the apples.
Melt the butter and pour this evenly over the apple mixture. Fit the prepared puff pastry circle over the apples and place the pan in the hot oven.
When the pastry is puffed and golden, take the pan from the oven and allow to stand for about four to five minutes, then turn it upside down onto a flat serving plate, so the caramelized apples are uppermost. Cut into wedges and serve with crème fraiche. The tart can be served hot or cold but do not refrigerate it, or the caramel will harden
Serves 6 to 8.