Tarte tatin is one of the most famous French pastries – invented "accidentally" by the Tatin sisters in their restaurant in Sologne at the end of the 19th century:its origin is not Norman as one might think.
But, garnished with caramelized apples, its principle has been widely taken up in the apple and caramel region! Here is the Norman recipe for the old-fashioned tarte tatin.
The tarte tatin requires careful preparation and a little time:the dough, if it is homemade (it is much better) must rest for an hour before use. The equipment is limited to a salad bowl, a rolling pin and a pie dish. You can also caramelize the apples in a pan. Ingredients:1 kg apple of your choice, 150 g flour, 150 g butter, 250 g sugar, 1 egg, salt.
In the salad bowl, mix the flour with 100 g of sugar and a pinch of salt. Dig a well in the center then add 75 g of soft butter cut into small cubes; add egg yolk. Mix well. Add a little water while continuing to mix, until you obtain a homogeneous paste. Let rest. Meanwhile, put the rest of the butter to melt in a pie mold with fairly high edges.
Peel and cut the apples into quarters. Arrange them in the mold and sprinkle with the rest of the sugar. Then cook in the oven or on the heat, stirring regularly (if you don't have a pie dish, you can get the same result in a springform pan or in a buttered pan). Bake for 10 to 15 minutes:the apples should be half cooked and lightly caramelized. Book.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (thermostat 6). Flour the work surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to obtain a disk with a diameter greater than that of the mold (about 3 cm more). In the dish, place the disc of dough on the apples and "border" the dough inside the mould. Make a few slits with a knife on top. Bake, cook for 40 minutes. Take out and let cool for ten minutes. Place an upside-down dish on top of the pie and turn the whole thing upside down. Remove the mold.
You can prepare a caramel to pour over the slices of tart before serving:125 g of butter + 150 g of sugar (avoid brown sugar which is not suitable). This caramel is made in a bain-marie or in a saucepan, watching carefully. Add 3 drops of vanilla extract and, according to taste, a dash of Calvados. For apples, the Canadas are particularly indicated:they release little water and thus do not dilute the caramel. Finally, serve the tart with Isigny cream and cider! Bon appetit.
