Grandma’s easy and quick Tarte Tatin recipe, the French apple tart, made with pasta matta.
Similar to strudel and the American apple pie, the tarte Tatin is an upside-down apple tart originating from France, where the apples are cooked and caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart itself is baked. It’s a delicious apple dessert, almost like the classic very quick apple fritters. Legend has it that this dessert was created by mistake when the inventor, in haste, forgot to roll a layer of shortcrust pastry into the pan before arranging the apples, causing them to caramelize in the sugar and butter before covering them with the pastry to fix the omission.
Once baked and flipped, the dessert was a huge success and became famous throughout France under the name of its creator: the Tatin tart.
In my home apple desserts disappear quickly, and since this tart was missing both from the blog and from my culinary experience, I asked a dear friend for her quick recipe and set out to prepare an extremely simple but very indulgent dessert.
If you love apple desserts and want to try it with me, here’s my recipe — I’m sure you’ll love it at first bite. As always, before you start cooking I remind you that if you want to stay updated on new recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 1 Day 6 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4-5 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or butter)
- 3 tbsp water (plus 1 tsp if needed (about 50 g total))
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 green apples
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (heaped)
- 1 lemon (organic, juice and zest)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (for finishing)
- Baking pan 8 2/3 in
- Parchment paper
Tarte tatin easy and quick recipe: preparation…
Start by preparing the pasta matta; while it rests you’ll make the filling.
In a bowl combine the flour, the oil, the water and a pinch of salt. Work and knead in the bowl until you obtain an elastic, homogeneous dough.
If you notice the dough is slow to become elastic because of the oil, add one or two more teaspoons of water.
Once you have a smooth, lump-free dough, form it into a ball, brush it with a little olive oil and wrap it in plastic wrap.
Let it rest at room temperature (if it’s not hot) for 30 minutes.
While the dough is resting, prepare the filling.
Peel the apples, cut them into quarters and remove the core, then cut each quarter into 2 slices so you have 8 even slices per apple.
For convenience and to obtain evenly sized slices I use a very handy apple slicer.
Place the apple slices in a bowl, add the lemon juice and mix. Add the grated zest, 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar depending on the sweetness of the apples, and cinnamon to taste.
Stir well.
Line the bottom of an 8 2/3 in round pan with parchment paper, sprinkle with the brown sugar and arrange the apple slices in a circular pattern: place the rounded side down on the bottom first, then to fill the gaps fit the other slices in with the sharper edge.
Make sure there are no empty spaces.
Distribute small pieces of butter over the apples.
Roll out the shortcrust dough and cover the apples, folding the edges of the dough inward over itself. You should create a rim that, once the tart is inverted, will contain the filling.
Bake in a preheated oven at 356°F for 45 minutes.
Place the tart on the oven floor for the first ten minutes, then move it to mid-height for the remainder of the baking time.
If it begins to darken too much during baking, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly, covered with a cotton towel, for twenty minutes. Then, with a single quick but gentle movement, invert it onto a suitable plate.
Serve warm or at room temperature after a few hours of resting (it will be even better).
If you liked this recipe, also check:
– Carrot cake with yogurt and apples;
– Grandma’s apple cake with cinnamon;
Keep leftover tarte Tatin at room temperature for one day, then transfer to the fridge and consume within two days.
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