Tarte Tatin Part 1

Try Ending the splendid dinner affair with a simple upside down apple tart or Tart Tatin as the French calls it.

All you need is a cup of sugar heated on the pan and place sliced apple the way you want the tart to be seen.  But you also need the base of the pastry and you could make it simply from scratch or have a ready-made pastry dough, it’s up to your convenience.

Once the sugar caramelizes in the pan and the apples turn golden, just place the pastry on top, tuck the edges neatly to the inside of the pan and bake at 350 deg F or 180 deg C for about 20-30 minutes.  When serving, just pull out the pan and carefully place on top of the pan, a plate with a size larger than the pan’s diameter, and turn over.

What I have seen on the Cooking It TV show hosted by chef Jun Tanaka, is that the tarte tatin is done in individual ramekin-sized copper pots.  He taught the culinary-challenged student on his show how to dress the tart up by placing a clove and a whole star anise on the very bottom of each mini pot before covering it up with a half (cored) apple and the sugar, so that when the tart is turned over, the spices would be beautifully displayed on top, as well as  lending a nice flavor combo of spices to the dessert.

To read more on the pastry side of the recipe, look out for the next installation of Tarte Tatin.