The Secret to a Flawless Tarte Tatin (2024)

The Secret to a Flawless Tarte Tatin (1)

I have been baking at home and professionally for a few years now and until last week I’d never made a Tarte Tatin. Visions of molten hot sugar flying across my kitchen as I flipped over a 400 degree pan of caramelized apples was enough to keep me at bay.

And then I read a recipe that gave me courage.

James Peterson’s tome of pastry aptly titled Baking (a great resource for any baker) offers a tip – start the day before. Bake the tart and allow it to cool completely in the pan. Then refrigerate the pastry for up to 12 hours allowing the sugar to cool and the apples to congeal together. Once it is thoroughly chilled, return the pan and it’s contents to the stove over medium high heat and gently, with splayed palms, rotate the tart to be sure that it doesn’t stick to the pan when you unmold it. With a plate held taut over the pan, quickly (and calmly) invert the pan onto the plate and voila!

Find a recipe with instructions, after the jump…

Tarte Tatin

Adapted from James Peterson’s ‘Baking’

15 – 18 medium to large baking apples (I prefer pink lady apples for baking)

¾ cup butter

¾ cup sugar

1 recipe of your favorite pie dough or store bought puff pastry, cut into a round just larger than the circumference of your pan

Peel, slice and core the apples. Then cut each half in half again creating quarters.

Combine butter and sugar in a 12 inch oven-safe saucepan. Cook until the mixture begins to caramelize – about 5 minutes – stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture is a deep amber color and smells nutty start adding your apple quarters to the pan. Work in a circle standing the apple wedges on their ends. As you add more apples it will be easier to keep them upright. If the butter/sugar mixture at any point is getting too dark during this stage just take it off the heat and continue adding apples.

The Secret to a Flawless Tarte Tatin (2)

*At this point I put my prepared round of pie dough in the freezer and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Once you have added as many apples as will fit in the pan allow the mixture to cook over medium-high heat until the caramel is syrupy and comes only ½ inch up the apples. For me this took about 30 minutes. Keep in mind that as the apples cook they will shrink so you will need to continue adding apples to the pan to ensure it that there will be no gaps in the final tart. To check and see if the apples are done, pick one up and see if the bottom is golden brown. If it is, take the pan off the heat and place your very cold round of dough on top of the pan. Use the heat of the pan to soften the dough so that you can tuck the edges around the apples and down the sides of the pan.

The Secret to a Flawless Tarte Tatin (3)

Bake tart for roughly 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.

Allow the tart to cool completely in the pan. Once cooled place the entire pan in the refrigerator for 3 to 12 hours. A few hours before serving take the pan out of the refrigerator and place on the stove over medium high heat for about 40 seconds. Shift the pan every 10 seconds to ensure it’s heated evenly. With splayed palms try to rotate the pastry in the pan. When you are able to complete a full rotation the tart is ready. Take the pan off the heat and place a plate on top of the pan. Gracefully invert the pan so that the tart falls onto the plate.

Allow the Tarte Tatin to come to room temperature before serving. A sprinkling of powdered sugar makes for an even more beautiful presentation.

The Secret to a Flawless Tarte Tatin (4)

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The Secret to a Flawless Tarte Tatin (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep Tarte Tatin from getting soggy? ›

Peel and quarter the apples. Use a small sharp knife to trim the hard cores and seeds from the center of each quarter; don't worry about being too neat. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate, lightly covered, for at least one day or up to three days. (This key step reduces the amount of liquid in the tart.

When to flip a Tarte Tatin? ›

Bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden, then remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then place a plate, slightly larger than the pan, on top and then, very carefully, using oven gloves, invert the tart on to the plate. Best served warm, with crème fraîche.

Is Tarte Tatin Cookie a boy or girl? ›

Tarte Tatin Cookie (Korean: 타르트타탕맛쿠키, talututatang-mat kuki) is an Epic Cookie who first appeared as an NPC in Legend of the Red Dragon, released alongside Snapdragon Cookie in the second part of The Legend of the Red Dragon update (v4. 6). She is of the Ranged type and is prioritized in the...

What French dish was said to have been created in an accident when the chef left apples cooking for too long? ›

TARTE TATIN

Stéphanie was having a rather busy day and was supposed to be making a traditional apple pie, but left the apples cooking in their butter and sugar too long and they started to burn.

How do you keep the bottom of a tart from getting soggy? ›

Blind-bake your base before adding a filling to help to firm the base and avoid liquid being absorbed into it. Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.

Does a tarte tatin need to be served immediately? ›

For best results, cook a day or two ahead and keep in its pan or dish in the fridge, then reheat in the oven for 20 mins at 150C/130C fan/gas 2 an hour before serving. Turn out to serve as above.

Why is my tarte tatin bitter? ›

Let the mix cook on a medium heat checking the color as it cooks. When the mix becomes brown and thick (not dark brown) remove the pan from the heat. Watch closely because if caramel burns will become bitter.

How to warm tarte tatin? ›

If serving as to-go option, send chilled tarte tatin in pie tin with the following reheat instructions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover pie tin and bake for 10-12 minutes, until warmed through.

How do you roll a perfect circle of dough? ›

The Best Way to Roll Dough into a Circle (Not an Amoeba)
  1. Start with smooth-edged round.
  2. Roll back and forth over entire disk until disk becomes small oval. Turn oval 90 degrees.
  3. Roll back and forth again until oval becomes more circular. Continue turning and rolling until circle of desired size is achieved.

What tier is tarte tatin cookie? ›

Cookie Tier
TierCookie
ABlack Raisin Cookie 5
ARockstar Cookie 5
ATarte Tatin Cookie 5
ABlack Lemonade Cookie 5
103 more rows

Is avocado cookie female? ›

Avocado Cookie, a renowned, masterful blacksmith, is markedly hardworking and diligent in her craft and all else she does, highly valuing quality over quantity and always sincerely putting in her best effort.

Is White Lily Cookie a girl? ›

White Lily Cookie is a partially tall Cookie with pale brown dough and dark fuchsia eyes, with eyelashes underneath them. She has messy white hair with a long braid, both resembling upside-down white lilies. She wears a vine headband with a white lily and few leaves on her hair.

Can I freeze a tarte Tatin? ›

Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 1 day ahead of time. How to Store: Cover the tarte Tatin and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before slicing and serving.

What food was invented by mistake? ›

From a frozen treat to flaked wheat, here are 7 famous foods that are the result of pure serendipity.
  • Popsicles. As a childhood staple, it's fitting that this sweet treat came to be after a discovery by a child. ...
  • Raisins. ...
  • Ice Cream Cones. ...
  • Chocolate Chip Cookies. ...
  • Corn Flakes. ...
  • Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. ...
  • Yogurt.

How do you keep tarte Tatin from sticking? ›

Then refrigerate the pastry for up to 12 hours allowing the sugar to cool and the apples to congeal together. Once it is thoroughly chilled, return the pan and it's contents to the stove over medium high heat and gently, with splayed palms, rotate the tart to be sure that it doesn't stick to the pan when you unmold it.

How do you keep tart pastry crisp? ›

Keeping pies from getting soggy after baking can be achieved by following these tips: Blind bake the crust: If you're making a pie with a moist filling, like fruit pies, blind baking the crust can help prevent sogginess. Blind baking means baking the crust without any filling in it.

Why are my butter tarts soggy on the bottom? ›

If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.

How do you keep puff pastry from getting soggy on the bottom? ›

One way to prevent soggy bottom pastry is to blind bake the pastry – This means partially or completely bake the pastry before adding the filling. Also, avoid over-filling your pastry.

How do you keep fruit tarts from getting soggy? ›

Finally, to prevent soggy bottom tart shells, two things. If pre-baking, when you take the tart shell out of the oven, wait 1-2 minutes then use a pastry brush and apply a little frothy egg white to the inside. This will essentially cook the egg white from the heat of the pastry and will seal the crust.

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