Tarte tatin is a French apple tart with a caramel flavor. The recipe was accidentally created by Stephanie Tatin, co-owner of the Tatin Inn, and became popular at Maxim’s restaurant in Paris. Golden apples are recommended, and the tart can be served with the crust on top or inverted.
Tarte tatin typically refers to an apple tart, in which apples are mixed with butter and brown sugar and the crust is placed on top. Allowing the apples to bake with no crust on the bottom gives them a wonderful caramel flavor, but the real work begins when you serve the tart. Since tarts usually have a bottom crust and no top crust, you typically need to invert the tart onto a plate. Some people call the result apple upside down cake, or tart, instead of tarte tatin.
The origins of this recipe go back over 100 years, and like many popular desserts, there are different versions of how the tarte tatin was created. It is probably one of the best-known accidental cooking inventions. However, most of the recipes credit Stephanie Tatin as the inventor. The source tale is that Stephanie, her co-owner with her sister Caroline, of the Tatin Inn, made some wonderful apple pies. Instead of simply baking the apples to a crust, she would first saute them in brown sugar and butter, but she tired one day and forgot to turn off the heat on the apples. She started caramelizing and, to save her dessert, she put a pastry crust on top of the apples and baked them.
Another story suggests that Caroline was so tired that she created the tarte tatin by accidentally flipping her famous apple tart. While necessity may be the mother of invention, both accounts suggest that depletion can sometimes result in unplanned inventions turning out for the best. Both stories are believable, especially to anyone who has spent a day cooking for a respected hotel.
The resulting tarte tatin soon became a favorite at the Hotel Tatin and then became known throughout much of France. When the owner of the famous Maxim’s restaurant in Paris, Louis Vaudable, visited the Hotel Tatin, he also fell in love with the dessert and had it added to Maxim’s menu. Since Maxim was so well known, not only the French but also many visitors to France discovered the tarte tatin and there are now numerous recipes for it, including variations with different types of fruit.
While more often than not if you’re baking pies you’d choose baking apples like Granny Smiths or Gravensteins, they aren’t appropriate for the tarte tatin. The delicious golden varieties tend to be sturdier and hold up better with this upside-down pastry. Another tip if you want to serve this recipe is that you don’t need to invert it, especially if the pastry crust is stuck. You can serve it with the crust on top and the apples on the bottom, though most recipes recommend inverting it.
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