Hi Maria,
Ah yes, thank you for reminding me, as I do need to put that on my recipe blog. Here it is!
Although you can make it using any pie crust recipe- I use Julia Childs recipe from her way to cook cookbook plus 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar ( an Ina Garten trick). Use very Cold butter, working quickly, and not overworking the pastry is key. Let it sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes or longer once you’ve got it done.
For 1 8 inch pie crust:
1 plus 1/4 c (001 or 045 patisserie flower ) all purpose will work fine.
1/2 teaspoon or a pinch of kosher sea salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 stick of very cold butter sliced into thin slivers
1/2 c plus a couple of tablespoons as needed of ice water.
Mix the flour salt and sugar together
Using a food processor or by hand with a stainless steel pastry blade or pastry cutter add the butter and chop and combine with the flour it until the butter is into small pea sized or thin small strips and there are no large chunks of butter. Add the cold water distribute it evenly
Sprinkle some more flour to prevent sticking and bring it together into a ball then onto wax paper to form a disk. You don’t need to work it or that it be a solid mass it should hold together but also be a bit crumbly.
Peel and slice the apples - choose a firm tart variety like Granny Smith or pink lady. You want fairly fat junks, not too thin slivers, so say 1/8 - 1/12 of the apple.
For the caramel part:
Turn on your stove to to medium- high heat. Add 1 c plus 1/4 cups sugar to the center of a cast iron skillet of medium size (8inch pie size)
Then add 1/2 cup water to the outside around the sugar on the sides of the pan.
Add 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter to the sugar and gently mash it without stiriing nor disturbing the water - which should start boiling. Adjust the heat medium to high. After about 10-12 minutes it should be all one liquid and start to simmer, thicken, and turn a golden color.
Once the caramel starts to turn caramel color you can gently add the apple slices in a nice pattern. Use tongs! Continue to cook over the stove for another 3-5 minutes or until the caramel is medium caramel color all over ( it may be darker in some places and lighter in others.. that’s ok just so long as it’s more or less amber everywhere rather than golden).
Turn off the heat and let it rest to cool down for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.
Finally took out and add the pie crust directly on top of the skillet and tuck the crust down into the sides of the pan.
Bake at 365 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned.
Again let it sit once you remove from the oven for 10-20 minutes before turning it out onto a pan - using a plate which covers the entire skillet, place the plate on top of the skillet and with a friend help hold the pan firmly glued to the skillet and turn the skillet over so that the apple tarte releases and voila you’ve hot a beautiful tarte tatin!
Comments