Apple Pie- Granny's Tarte Tatin

Apple Pie- Granny's Tarte Tatin

Here's a quick and easy recipe for the traditional tarte tatin- the succulent apple pie baked upside down. This one is delicately spiced and is preferably eaten warm with a dollop of ice-cream (not essential, but then, who's complaining ! )

 

 

What will you need:

• 6 medium-sized apples 
• 80 grams butter
• 160 grams powder sugar
• 1 tea-spoon cinnamon powder
• 1 tea-spoon cardamom powder
• 1 sachet vanilla perfumed sugar (optional)
• 1/2 tea-spoon nutmeg powder (optional)
• 1 crust pastry shell

Directions to follow:

• Wash, peel and de-seed the apples and cut them in quarters (4-6 pieces per apple).
• Heat butter in a deep frying pan on slow fire.
• Add sugar and allow it to caramelise. It will take a few minutes.
• Add spices (cinnamon powder, cardamom powder etc.).
• Add apples. Delicately turn them over to envelop them with the caramel-spices mixture. Allow to cook for 15-20 minutes.
• Butter the tarte mould. Deposit a layer of apples carefully preserving aside the sauce of caramel-spices. Spread this sauce over apples. Deposit another layer of apples followed by the sauce.
• Allow the mixture to cool down a bit.
• Spread the pastry shell to cover the apples. Remove the excess of pastry shell. 
• Pre-heat the oven to 210° C
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
• Serve warm.

Trivia:

• The famous Tarte Tatin was created as a result of an 'accident' in 1898. there are several stories regarding its creation. Most of them revolve around the hotel of Tatin sisters- Stéphanie et Caroline- at Lamotte-Beuvron in Sologne region, North-central of France. Stéphanie accidentally left the apples cooking for too long and in order to do some damage control, she covered them with a pastry shell and put them directly in the oven. The result turned out to be delicious and appreciated by the hotel guests. Thus Tarte Tatin was born !
• Prefer firm apples while choosing. 
• Variations of the Tarte Tatin can also be made with pears, apricots, mangoes, figs, bananas etc. 
• Usually this tarte is served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream. It can be prepared without the spices. In which case, you can add a personal touch by sprinkling some cinnamon powder before serving.
• For connoisseurs, special moulds for tarte tatin are available in the market. These are pans, with or without handle, that are used for the entire process from cooking the apples to baking them with the crust pastry in the oven. Using a special mould is not indispensable to preparing a genuine tarte tatin !

 

French Equivalents:

 

English	French
Apples Butter Powder sugar Cinnamon Cardamom Vanilla flavoured sugar Nutmeg  Pastry Shell	Pommes Beurre Sucre en poudre Canelle Cardamome Sucre vanillé Muscade Pâte feuilletée
Chop Stir To butter Bake	couper remuer beurrer cuire au four

 

Bon Appetit!