Ingredients
16 Pink Lady or Braeburn apples
250 g salted butter (best quality), at room temperature
250 g caster sugar
5 g ground cinnamon
500 g all-butter puff pastry
Tarte tatin tin (11 inches in diameter, such as by Silverwood Bakeware, see link below). If using a smaller tin, reduce the quantities
Advance preparation
Peel, core and halve the apples and place on a tray. Leave in the fridge for 48 hours to dry out (don’t worry about any discolouration).
Method
- Heat oven to 165 degrees C fan (185 degrees conventional).
- Beat the butter, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl to form a paste. Smother the base of the tin with the butter/sugar mixture, taking care not to touch the sides.
- Place one apple, cut side facing upwards, in the centre of the tin. Position a layer of apples, on their sides, around the central apple, packed tightly together. Add a second layer of tightly packed apples to fill the tin completely.
- Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 5 mm and prick all over using a fork. Cut out a circle of pastry, using a plate as a template, large enough to cover the top of the apples, and place on the apples.
- Cook the tin on the hob, on a medium heat, for about 10 mins, until the butter has melted and is bubbling but the sugar has not caramelised.
- Place the tin in the centre of the oven and cook for 1.5 hours.
- Leave the tart to cool in the tin for about 1 hour before inverting onto a plate. If the tart is cold, heat the base briefly to loosen the tart from the tin.
- Serve with double cream or ice cream.
Feeds 10−12