I Upset The Apple Cart

Tarte Tatin, upside down apple tart 

No, it's not Tintin's Belgian name. And nor is it esoteric French abuse. But it boasts a curious history nonetheless. And its parents are fatigue and serendipity. 

Curious? Well, read on.

Tarte Tatin is an upside-down tart. The fruit (usually apples) are caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked. It was created by accident in France many years ago. One day, restaurateur Stephanie Tartin was making a traditional apple pie. Exhausted, she forgot about the apples cooking in butter and sugar. Smelling the burning, she tried to rescue the dish by putting the pastry base on top of the pan of apples. She then put the whole pan in the oven to finish cooking it. After turning out the upside down tart, she was pleasantly surprised at how much her guests loved it!

Now if only my life in the kitchen was full of fortunate accidents like that one.

Anyway, I first learned to make this upside down tart while watching an episode of Masterchef Australia. I loved the look of the dessert. I could tell what it would taste like. And I just had to try my hand at it. Since then, I have made it a couple of times. I have also managed to create a savory version. For me, the big task was to make a good pastry. I wasn't too nervous about the caramel.

My recipe for Tarte Tatin has a little Indian touch. It’s got tamarind in it. I was curious about how tangy tamarind and a quintessential French dessert would get along. Curiously, they get along quite famously (in my humble opinion of course).  

It’s not difficult to make (honest) and it tastes wonderful when served warm with ice cream.

So here goes.

Recipe for sweet shortcrust pastry

Traditionally this is made with puff pastry but I haven’t tried that yet. This one is a much simpler pastry to make and it works well. I do hope to make a successful tart with puff pastry soon.

Ingredients:

• 200g plain flour
• 60g icing sugar
• pinch of salt
• 100g butter, cubed
• 2-3 tbsp cold water

Method:

Although the measures are different and the recipe is without sugar, you can follow this link to learn how to make short crust pastry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1siW_wm9TnA. Easy and foolproof. And don’t assume I’m a Gordon Ramsay fan. Quite the contrary, in fact but that’s a different post!

• Sift the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and add the cubes of butter.
• Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining. Try to work quickly so that it does not become greasy.
• Stir in just enough cold water to bind the dough.
• Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least an hour before using. 

Recipe for the caramel

Ingredients:

• 4 Fuji apples, peeled and cut into wedges 1.5 cm thick
• 1 tbsp tamarind extract (optional)
• 150g castor sugar
• 100 gms butter, cubed
• A few sprigs of rosemary
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup thick cream
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

• On an 11 inch round, oven proof, non-stick pan, add half the butter and turn on the heat to medium. Once melted, sprinkle the sugar and allow it to turn golden in color, stirring continuously. You will need to add the water to help dissolve the sugar and also prevent it from burning.
• When the sugar has caramelized, add the tamarind extract, rosemary, vanilla essence and cream.
• After a couple of minutes, arrange the apple wedges like in the picture above to cover the base of the pan completely. Cook for 5-7 mins and then add the remaining butter all over. Turn the heat off.
• Roll out the pastry to a round that’s a little bigger than the base of the pan, lay it on top of the apples and tuck it in to cover all the caramel.
• Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C and transfer the pan to the oven.
• Remove after 45 mins when the pastry is golden and cooked.
• Give it 3-4 minutes to rest and then flip the pan over onto a plate turning the tart upside down.
• Adjust the apples if need be, and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.