The Tarte Tatin or Upside-Down Cake is a French apple dessert where the apples are caramelized in butter and sugar before baking the cake.
It is like a tart, but prepared in reverse. The process is quite delicate, requiring careful placement of the shortcrust, flaky, or puff pastry over the apples to cover and wrap them laterally, otherwise, everything collapses when flipped!
It’s a very good, soft, and delicious cake with the taste of caramelized apples combined with the shortcrust pastry making it truly unique.
Try it, it’s truly delicious with an indescribable aroma that fills the kitchen, perfect as a dessert after a meal but also for breakfast or snack.
The French serve it with crème fraîche, but I prefer it as it is because it is already quite rich and filling!
There are many recipes online, some use puff pastry, some even shortcrust, but I used a recipe from a French book with shortcrust pastry.
Read the procedure Quick Shortcrust Pastry Recipe
The Tarte Tatin was born from a mistake by the Tatin Sisters, two French pastry chefs who, at the beginning of the 1900s, ran the current Restaurant Tatin.
One of the sisters, out of distraction, baked only the apples without the pastry, and to fix it, she later added a shell of shortcrust pastry, upside down, and then baked. It was a huge success because people loved it, and so this dessert became famous worldwide for its deliciousness and texture!
THESE VERSIONS ARE ALSO GREAT
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6-8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for the Tarte Tatin or Upside-Down Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 4 apples
- 3/4 cup sugar (+ 2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 cup butter
- tbsp water
Tools
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Pot
- 1 Tart Pan
- 1 Oven
Steps for the Tarte Tatin or Upside-Down Cake
You can prepare the shortcrust pastry by hand or with a stand mixer or food processor.
In the stand mixer bowl, add the flour, butter, cold water, and sugarTurn on the mixer for 15 seconds at speed 6.
Take the dough, shape it with your hands, wrap it in parchment or plastic wrap, and let it rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before rolling it out and using it.
For manual preparation:Cut the butter into cubes, pour the flour into a large bowl, add the sugar and butter. Work the dough by hand until it forms crumbs.
Create a well in the center and pour in the cold water, mix and knead quickly, form a ball, and then rest in the fridge.
Another small secret for perfect dough is to work it as little as possible, avoiding warming the butter.
I suggest peeling and cutting the apples while you start preparing the caramel, so everything is ready.
Peel and cut them first into quarters and then each piece in half.
Caramel: in a saucepan or skillet, add the sugar, 2 – 3 tablespoons of water, and leave on very low heat.It will take about 10 minutes for the sugar to go from solid to liquid, then from liquid to granular, and finally to brown caramel. At first, do not touch it, then stir occasionally to check the situation, but not continuously! It’s important that the temperature is low.
When the sugar has finally become liquid caramel color, turn off the heat, move the saucepan away from the heat, add 4 tbsp of butter, and stir very quickly with a whisk.
Pour the caramel immediately, otherwise it will solidify quickly, into a previously buttered pan and rotate to spread it all over the bottom. Arrange the apple slices immediately around with the back side down, sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the apples (you can also use brown sugar) and small pieces of butter.
Roll out the shortcrust pastry, lay it over the apples, tucking it well inside the edges to create a base, make a rim with excess dough, then prick it well all over with a fork and transfer everything to a preheated oven at 425°F.
Bake the Tarte Tatin at 425°F in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes.
The time it takes for the shortcrust to become crispy, the baking time also depends on the power of your oven.Turn off the oven and immediately invert onto a serving plate before the caramel solidifies. If caramel drips, collect it and immediately distribute it over the apples.
Let it cool on the plate, then slice and serve!
If you don’t feel like making the caramel, after buttering the mold, put some butter lumps and sprinkle the entire base with brown sugar, then arrange the apples with the concave side up and sprinkle again with more sugar.
Bake at 390°F for 15 minutes to brown and caramelize, then cover with shortcrust pastry and continue baking for about 30 minutes.
Storage and Tips
You can store the Tarte Tatin at room temperature for about 1 day, but it will be less crispy. If you like, you can always reheat it with the grill.
This dessert is made with Renette apples, but other types of apples you have at home will work just fine.
If you like, you can flavor it with cinnamon or grated lemon zest!
You can also use ready-made shortcrust or puff pastry if you prefer, or try my recipe for light light shortcrust pastry with little butter.
You can store the Tarte Tatin at room temperature for about 1 day, but it will be less crispy. If you like, you can always reheat it with the grill.
This dessert is made with Renette apples, but other types of apples you have at home will work just fine.
If you like, you can flavor it with cinnamon or grated lemon zest!
You can also use ready-made shortcrust or puff pastry if you prefer, or try my recipe for light light shortcrust pastry with little butter.
You can store the Tarte Tatin at room temperature for about 1 day, but it will be less crispy. If you like, you can always reheat it with the grill.
This dessert is made with Renette apples, but other types of apples you have at home will work just fine.
If you like, you can flavor it with cinnamon or grated lemon zest!
You can also use ready-made shortcrust or puff pastry if you prefer, or try my recipe for light light shortcrust pastry with little butter.
