Today a famous dessert made in a skillet: the tarte Tatin with apples and caramel cooked in a pan and without an oven, which fortunately turned out special and delicious!!!!!!!
The TATIN, as you may know, is a dessert—one of many featured in cookbooks—that was born from a mistake during preparation.
The Tatin sisters, Caroline and Stéphanie, were innkeepers in Lamotte-Beuvron (Loret-Cher) at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Stéphanie was preparing a dessert and put the apples with sugar and butter into a baking pan, forgetting to add the base of pâte brisée.
While returning to the dining room full of customers she remembered the mistake and placed the pastry base on top of the sliced apples hoping she could still serve the dessert to the guests.
After the baking time was over she inverted the dessert onto a plate and served it; it was devoured instantly with great enthusiasm, and that is how the TARTE TATIN was born!
On the blog there are other sweet TATINs and even savory TATINs, but all are baked in the oven and I was very worried about the result of this TARTE TATIN with apples and caramel cooked in a skillet!
Instead… it’s delicious and even more indulgent if you serve it with whipped cream or a few tablespoons of English custard.
Cooking is done on low heat, checking occasionally that everything is going well; it took just over an hour.
The apples for the Tarte Tatin should be placed very close together to make a single layer—I’m not perfect at this, but…
Many recipes are said to have been born from kitchen mistakes; besides the famous Tatin, we also have ganache—apparently an apprentice dropped milk or cream into chocolate by mistake. The chef scolded him, calling the ruined cream GANACHE, but later discovered the cream was amazing!
Even the delicious crêpe suzette was born from a mistake. An apprentice at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo in 1895 added too much liqueur to the accompanying sauce, which ignited. Worried about keeping the Prince of Wales waiting, the young man brought the flaming crêpe to the table and the future king was enchanted; he named the dessert after the only female guest at the table, the young Suzette!
The list of kitchen mistakes could go on—popsicles, gorgonzola*, Coca-Cola, a mistaken Negroni, brownies and more: all recipes that began as errors and then turned into magic!!!!!!!!!!!!
I opened a free recipe channel on WhatsApp—no notifications, no sound—that you can join by clicking this link https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaHbGIn9cDDig7Cw2x0F. Every day you can read one sweet and one savory recipe!
Here are other TATIN cake recipes already published on the blog:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Budget
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for TARTE TATIN with apples and caramel cooked in a skillet
- 5 apples
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 package pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry)
Tools for TARTE TATIN with apples and caramel cooked in a skillet
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- Pans
- Knives
For the preparation of TARTE TATIN with apples and caramel cooked in a skillet
A dessert that is not difficult but must be prepared with attention and care, allowing the right time for a perfect cook; don’t rush!
I start by peeling the apples, removing the core and cutting them into quarters.
I greased the skillet with half of the butter indicated in the ingredient list—the pan is about 9.5–9.8 in nonstick; mine is Tognana and is wonderful!
After the butter, I sprinkled half of the granulated sugar evenly over the surface.
I arrange the apple quarters in the pan, placing the rounded side down on the bottom of the pan and covering all the space.
The apples should (well, ideally) fully cover the pan without leaving any little gaps, but I confess it’s not easy unless you start cutting the fruit like a puzzle… you decide—mine in the photo isn’t perfect!
Now add the remaining butter in pieces and the rest of the sugar.
Put on low heat and let cook for about 25/30 minutes with the lid on.
Occasionally check by gently moving the pan so the caramel being formed during cooking doesn’t harden.
Measure the diameter of the pan and with the help of a flat plate, cut out a circle about 3/4 inch larger than the pan size and carefully place it over the apples, tucking the pastry slightly inside.
Cover again with the lid the skillet with the tarte tatin apples and caramel and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
After this time invert the tarte tatin onto the lid as is often done with an omelette and place thepâte brisée in contact with the pan, continuing to cook over moderate heat for another ~15 minutes.
I gave the pan a little shake from time to time to prevent sticking and, when cooking was finished, I gently slid the apple and caramel dessert onto a plate.
THIS is an important step to prevent the caramel from becoming hard and then preventing the tart from remaining whole and presentable.
What can I say… It’s very good. It’s not a quick dessert, but it deserves the attention and care I’ve described!
I tasted it warm with a big spoonful of whipped cream… heavenly!
Enjoy!
Annalisa
* “It seems that one of the most particular and well-known Italian cheeses (the fifth most exported Italian cheese in the world) was born thanks to a love story. Around 879 AD, in the town of Gorgonzola near Milan, a young cheesemaker, in a hurry to run to his beloved (or distracted by thoughts of her), forgot a bundle of fresh curd to drain; not wanting to throw it away, the next day he added the forgotten curd to fresh curd. After aging, he realized he had created a cheese with an unusual appearance and exceptional taste.” (From the Zanichelli site)
IN THE THEME OF SAVORY TATIN here is the EASY TARTE TATIN WITH TOMATOES AND PROSCIUTTO
Annalisa says…
It’s a dessert that requires attention and time but, as I said, it’s delicious!
If you don’t like whipped cream you can enjoy this stovetop tarte tatin with apples and caramel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream… slurp!
