While we can't easily go travelling to France at the moment, we have been talking about travelling there with our taste buds recently by looking into some of her most famous and representative dishes, which can be recreated in the comfort and safety of our own kitchens. It's the perfect pairing to a session of browsing our incredible and beautiful villas in France and looking forward to when our next French getaway can happen!
Last time we discussed the controversial Salade Niçoise, which would make for a great starter to a homemade French meal, but today we thought we'd talk about a delicious and beloved French dessert with which to follow it up: the iconic Tarte Tatin. Hailing from the town of Lamotte-Beuvron in the region of Centre, this classic French treat is named for the two sisters who accidentally invented it in the 19th century.
Last time we discussed the controversial Salade Niçoise, which would make for a great starter to a homemade French meal, but today we thought we'd talk about a delicious and beloved French dessert with which to follow it up: the iconic Tarte Tatin. Hailing from the town of Lamotte-Beuvron in the region of Centre, this classic French treat is named for the two sisters who accidentally invented it in the 19th century.
The Tatin sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin, ran the Hôtel Tatin in the 1880s and the apocryphal stories goes that Stéphanie, who did the majority of the cooking for the hotel, was overworked one day while making a traditional apple pie. She left the apples cooking in butter and sugar for too long and when she smelled the burning, she went to rescue the fruit mixture. Not wanting to waste the ingredients, she tried to salvage the dish by putting the pastry base on top of the apple mixture and then placing it all in the oven. When it was done, she had an upside-down tart that she was surprised to learn delighted their guests. In another version of the tale, she simply baked a carmelised apple tart upside-down by mistake but not matter what version is true (or if, in fact, neither is true), it is certain that the tart went down a treat. It is also certain that an upside-down tart was not an entirely new notion with patissier Antonin Carême mentioning a similar dessert in his book, “Pâtissier Royal Parisien” (1841) and a similar kind of tarte, the Tarte Solognote, having long been made in the Sologne region that surrounds Lamotte-Beuvron.
After its warm welcome, the Tarte Tatin then became a specialty of the Hôtel Tatin, though it was only after their deaths that others lauded their innovation, credited them with its invention, and named it for them. Made of puff or short crust pastry, it was typically made with two regional apple varieties, the Reine des Reinete Pippin apple and the Calville apple but is now made with many other varieties including Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji and Gala apples. There are also variations on the dish that can be made with pears, quinces, peaches, pineapple, tomatoes, and other kinds of fruit, as well as vegetables, such as onions.
Perfect for the autumn and going into winter as a sweet, wholesome, and tasty treat, this is a must to make at home while we all dream of our next trip to France. And maybe, if you look through our vacation rentals in Centre, you can even go and try it in the very restaurant in which it was born!
Ingredients:
250g of pastry (you can try this recipe here or buy pre-made pastry in most supermarkets today – we won't tell)
6 apples (any of the varieties mentioned above will do) – to be cored, peeled and quartered
100g of caster sugar
75g of butter
A dash of cinnamon (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat over to 190 degrees Celsius.
2. Roll out pastry in a circular shape, large enough to fit into a ceramic tart dish or a heavy-based frying pan.
3. Take a frying pan and dissolve the sugar over low heat until golden brown. Do not stir, just shake it until dissolved.
4. Add the butter and cinnamon and then, after a couple of minutes, toss in the quartered apples and cook for 10 minutes over low heat.
5. Add the mixture to the tart dish or top your pan directly with the pastry, making sure that the rounded parts of the apples are facing downwards in a neat circular pattern and that there are no gap. Tuck the edges of the pastry in neatly around the apple mixture and use a knife to prick some holes to allow the steam to escape while cooking.
6. Bake for 25-35 minutes until pastry is golden brown.
7. Allow to cool for five minutes and then carefully turn out onto a plate for the inverted pie look.
8. Enjoy!
After its warm welcome, the Tarte Tatin then became a specialty of the Hôtel Tatin, though it was only after their deaths that others lauded their innovation, credited them with its invention, and named it for them. Made of puff or short crust pastry, it was typically made with two regional apple varieties, the Reine des Reinete Pippin apple and the Calville apple but is now made with many other varieties including Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji and Gala apples. There are also variations on the dish that can be made with pears, quinces, peaches, pineapple, tomatoes, and other kinds of fruit, as well as vegetables, such as onions.
Perfect for the autumn and going into winter as a sweet, wholesome, and tasty treat, this is a must to make at home while we all dream of our next trip to France. And maybe, if you look through our vacation rentals in Centre, you can even go and try it in the very restaurant in which it was born!
Ingredients:
250g of pastry (you can try this recipe here or buy pre-made pastry in most supermarkets today – we won't tell)
6 apples (any of the varieties mentioned above will do) – to be cored, peeled and quartered
100g of caster sugar
75g of butter
A dash of cinnamon (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat over to 190 degrees Celsius.
2. Roll out pastry in a circular shape, large enough to fit into a ceramic tart dish or a heavy-based frying pan.
3. Take a frying pan and dissolve the sugar over low heat until golden brown. Do not stir, just shake it until dissolved.
4. Add the butter and cinnamon and then, after a couple of minutes, toss in the quartered apples and cook for 10 minutes over low heat.
5. Add the mixture to the tart dish or top your pan directly with the pastry, making sure that the rounded parts of the apples are facing downwards in a neat circular pattern and that there are no gap. Tuck the edges of the pastry in neatly around the apple mixture and use a knife to prick some holes to allow the steam to escape while cooking.
6. Bake for 25-35 minutes until pastry is golden brown.
7. Allow to cool for five minutes and then carefully turn out onto a plate for the inverted pie look.
8. Enjoy!
Photo credit: Franck Chicot / CC BY-SA 2.0