Tarte Tatin (French Upside-Down Apple Tart)
Apple quarters packed in a skillet and softened in butter, covered with a light amber caramel cooked to 355°F, topped with a chilled disk of butter pastry, baked at 350°F until the edges bubble thick and syrupy, then flipped onto a platter.
Tarte Tatin is named for the Hôtel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, in the Loir-et-Cher, run by the sisters Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin, where Wikipedia places the tart in the 1880s. Wikipedia says the famous story, that an overworked Stéphanie left apples cooking in butter and sugar too long, threw the pastry on top to save them and served the tart upside down, is a popular myth. A manuscript by Marie Souchon, a teacher in the town, says the recipe came from the cook of a local nobleman, Count Alfred Leblanc de Chatauvillard, and historians argue the sisters improved the tarte solognote, an old dish of the Sologne region, rather than inventing anything.
The idea is older than the hotel anyway: Wikipedia notes that Antonin Carême's 1841 pastry book already mentions glazed upside-down cakes topped with apples. The sisters never published a recipe or called it tarte Tatin; the fame came later, from the food writer Curnonsky and Maxim's in Paris, after they had died. This version is America's Test Kitchen's, which cooks the apples and the caramel separately so the tart turns out right every time.
Why it works the kitchen science
Apples cooked first
Steaming them covered pulls out their juice, and boiling it off before the caramel goes in keeps the caramel from being watered down, so the apples come out glazed instead of swimming.
Caramel made in its own pan
Cooking it separately to a measured 355°F to 360°F gives a light amber caramel every time, instead of guessing at the color under a pan of apples.
Step by step
- Step 1
Make the dough: line a large flat plate with parchment. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor about 3 seconds, scatter the butter over it and pulse about 5 times, until there are big, irregular chunks of butter. Add the ice water and process about 10 seconds, scraping down once, until small balls form and almost no dry flour remains.
- Step 2
Gather the dough into a ball, flour it and the counter well and shape a 5-inch disk. Roll it into a 9-inch circle, set it on the plate, cut three 2-inch slits in the center, cover it loosely and refrigerate until very firm, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Step 3
Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Off the heat, stand the apple quarters on their sides in a snug ring around the edge and tuck the rest into the center. Sprinkle with the salt.
- Step 4
Cover and cook over medium-low heat 10 to 15 minutes, until the apples have given off enough juice to cover the bottom of the pan and it begins to reduce. Uncover and cook 3 to 5 minutes more, until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Set the skillet aside.
- Step 5
Make the caramel: bring the sugar, water and corn syrup to a boil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat and cook without stirring 4 to 8 minutes, until it turns straw-colored at the edges. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, swirling now and then, 2 to 5 minutes, until it is light amber and reads 355°F to 360°F. Off the heat, carefully stir in the remaining 3 tbsp butter (it will bubble and steam hard), pour the caramel over the apples at once and lay the chilled dough on top.
- Step 6
Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, until thick, syrupy bubbles form around the edge and the crust is golden brown. Cool the skillet on a rack 20 to 30 minutes.
- Step 7
Run a thin rubber spatula around the edge, set a platter with sloped sides that is larger than the skillet on top, and flip the tart onto it in one quick, careful motion. Spoon back any apples that stick. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
Tarte Tatin (French Upside-Down Apple Tart)
Serves 8 · one 10-inch tart · 1 hr 30 min total
Dough
- 1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 8 tbsp (113 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
- 1/4 cup ice water
Apples and caramel
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces, divided
- 5 Gala or Golden Delicious apples (6 to 7 oz each), peeled, quartered and cored
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 3/4 cup (149 g) sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
Method
- Make the dough: line a large flat plate with parchment. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor about 3 seconds, scatter the butter over it and pulse about 5 times, until there are big, irregular chunks of butter. Add the ice water and process about 10 seconds, scraping down once, until small balls form and almost no dry flour remains.
- Gather the dough into a ball, flour it and the counter well and shape a 5-inch disk. Roll it into a 9-inch circle, set it on the plate, cut three 2-inch slits in the center, cover it loosely and refrigerate until very firm, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Off the heat, stand the apple quarters on their sides in a snug ring around the edge and tuck the rest into the center. Sprinkle with the salt.
- Cover and cook over medium-low heat 10 to 15 minutes, until the apples have given off enough juice to cover the bottom of the pan and it begins to reduce. Uncover and cook 3 to 5 minutes more, until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Set the skillet aside.
- Make the caramel: bring the sugar, water and corn syrup to a boil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat and cook without stirring 4 to 8 minutes, until it turns straw-colored at the edges. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, swirling now and then, 2 to 5 minutes, until it is light amber and reads 355°F to 360°F. Off the heat, carefully stir in the remaining 3 tbsp butter (it will bubble and steam hard), pour the caramel over the apples at once and lay the chilled dough on top.
- Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, until thick, syrupy bubbles form around the edge and the crust is golden brown. Cool the skillet on a rack 20 to 30 minutes.
- Run a thin rubber spatula around the edge, set a platter with sloped sides that is larger than the skillet on top, and flip the tart onto it in one quick, careful motion. Spoon back any apples that stick. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Apple Tarte Tatin" by Jessica Rudolph (published August 23, 2021), serves 6 to 8. We follow it as written: a food processor dough of 1 cup (142 g) flour, 2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 8 tbsp chilled butter and 1/4 cup ice water, rolled to a 9-inch circle with three 2-inch slits and refrigerated at least 2 hours; 5 Gala or Golden Delicious apples (6 to 7 oz each), peeled, quartered and cored, arranged on their sides in 1 tbsp butter in a 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet, salted, cooked covered 10 to 15 minutes over medium-low and uncovered 3 to 5 minutes more; a caramel of 3/4 cup (149 g) sugar, 1/4 cup water and 2 tbsp light corn syrup cooked to light amber at 355°F to 360°F, with 3 tbsp butter stirred in off the heat; 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F; 20 to 30 minutes cooling before inverting. The 8 servings are the top of ATK's range. History from Wikipedia, "Tarte Tatin". America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- ATK says the baked tart can cool in the skillet, be refrigerated up to 24 hours and be reheated in a 300°F oven about 25 minutes before you flip it.
- Gala and Golden Delicious hold their shape; Wikipedia says the original apples were Reine des Reinettes and Calville.
- Marie Souchon's early recipe, as Wikipedia summarizes it, calls for heat from above and below; a skillet in the oven does the same job.
- Serve it with crème fraîche or lightly whipped cream (our suggestion).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Stéphanie Tatin invented it by accident. Disputed: the story is famous; Wikipedia calls it a popular myth and cites Marie Souchon's manuscript, which credits the cook of Count Alfred Leblanc de Chatauvillard.
- The Tatin sisters invented the upside-down apple tart. Disputed: historians argue they improved the Sologne's tarte solognote; Carême mentioned upside-down apple cakes in 1841 (Wikipedia).
- The sisters called it tarte Tatin. Documented as false in Wikipedia's account: they never published the recipe or used the name; Curnonsky and Maxim's made it famous after their deaths.
- Maxim's owner got the recipe by working undercover as the hotel's gardener. Folklore: Wikipedia flags the dates (Louis Vaudable was born in 1902; the sisters retired in 1906).
- It has to be eaten warm. Folklore: German Wikipedia's Apfelkuchen article says it is usually eaten warm; ATK serves it warm or at room temperature.
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