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pastry & cake

the world-famous tarte tatin

servings
6

method

Not only is this dessert delicious, it was invented quite near where I was staying by the Tatin sisters. The story goes that one of them was making an apple tart but, for whatever reason, made a mistake and left it too long in the oven. However, she thought she could salvage it, so she ended up turning it upside down and her guests went mad for it. I wish all my cooking mistakes had such happy results. If you want to see a video of this being made, go towww.jamieoliver.com/how-to. It's dead simple and when you've made it once you'll have the hang of it.

Hopefully, this recipe will give you the basics so that you’ll be able to stretch it by using pears, quinces, peaches, apricots or a mixture… I’m sure the sisters would love the fact that people were bending this recipe to make it their own. Light golden puff pastry, soft juicy fruit and crisp caramel is a great combination! You could serve this with a spoonful of crème fraîche or whipped cream, but personally I love the contrast between the warm tart and cold ice cream, especially the prune and Armagnac ice cream on the next page!

Preheat your oven to 190˚C/375˚F/gas 5. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll out your puff pastry until it’s just over 0.5cm thick. This will be enough to cover the ovenproof frying pan you’ll be cooking the tarte Tatin in, leaving about 5cm extra around the edge. Put the pastry to one side for now. Peel your apples, then halve them horizontally and use a teaspoon to get rid of the seeds and core.

Put the ovenproof pan on a medium heat and add the sugar, Calvados, vanilla seeds and pod. Let the sugar dissolve and cook until the mixture forms a light caramel. Just please remember never ever to touch or taste hot caramel, as it can burn really badly.

Once the caramel looks and smells delicious – it should be a lovely chestnut brown – add your halved apples. Carefully stir everything in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples start to soften and you get a toffee apple vibe happening. Add the cubed butter, then lay the pastry over the top. Quickly and carefully tuck the pastry down right into the edges – it’s best to use a wooden spoon so you don’t touch the caramel.

Bake the tarte Tatin for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden, with crispy caramelly pieces bubbling up from under the edges. Take it out of the oven. To make it look like a tarte Tatin you need to turn it out, which isn't hard – but you do need to be careful with that hot caramel. So get a serving plate or board larger than your pan and put an oven glove on to protect the arm holding the board. Put the board or plate on top of the pan, then quickly, carefully and confidently turn it out (remember you can go to www.jamieoliver.com/how-to and see a video of how to do this safely). Put it to one side for a few minutes, so the caramel can cool down, then divide it up and serve
with a spoonful of crème fraîche or ice cream.

• from Jamie does...

ingredients

• plain flour, for dusting
• 500g puff pastry
• 5 small eating apples
(approximately 800g),
a mixture of sweet and
acidic varieties
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 100ml Calvados
• 1 vanilla pod, halved
lengthways, seeds
scraped out
• 50g butter, cubed

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by sara on Thu 24 May 2012 @ 13:02

how r u dear,

2. by sara on Thu 24 May 2012 @ 12:59

Hello everyone, Very nice reciepies, join me.

3. by Queasy on Sat 12 May 2012 @ 03:00

This expresses my sentiments about school cafeteria food! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPeXS-V0ico&feature=channel&list=UL

4. by Jean Paul on Fri 04 May 2012 @ 09:49

What does Jamie has to do with the Tarte Tatin. It's a French Recipe, Jamie stick to lamb with mint sauce and let French people export their own culture. Jamie Oliver talking about Tarte Tatin: what an insult !!!!!

5. by Frandcheska on Thu 05 Jan 2012 @ 10:46

I love , it's very very delicious !!!!

6. by Karin on Mon 05 Dec 2011 @ 08:47

greetings from south africa! made this with guava's in season and used Nannerl Liquer Marillen (apricot), absolutely deliscious! Thanks Jamie, love your programs.

7. by Maggie on Thu 08 Sep 2011 @ 09:39

Love this recipe - scrummy. BUT I'm not allowed pastry at present, so I just did the fruit - beautiful!

8. by Krishenka on Thu 04 Aug 2011 @ 14:15

I love this recipe and find it easy to make with a great result every time. The vanilla pods to me make this love it thanks Jamie

9. by Darren on Mon 01 Aug 2011 @ 04:04

Love, love, love this simple, gorgeous recipe! For variation, I've experimented using apples and pears; bananas and plums; and lastly apples, pears, and strawberries. Banana and plum tartin pic here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaplain/5948696097/in/photostream I switched out half the Calvados for Louis Roque Vieille Prune Brandy - delicious!

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