Upside down Apple Tart

Variation of French "Tarte Tatin"
Delicious winter dessert for a casual
or fancy menu. And the ingredients are always available.

First a word about pie crusts. Everyone has a favorite recipe that may be their own or their grandma's or one from a favorite cook book. If you are satisfied with it, use it.

Crusts should be flaky, tender, and add taste to the finished product. If your pie is a dessert (sweet custards, creams, fruits), the crust should contain some sugar and perhaps cinnamon or nutmeg. If you are making a savory pie (meat, chicken, cheese or vegetable style quiche), omit sweet additions and substitute a little more salt and some ground herbs or spices to compliment your filling. Crusts are more than containers---they should add to the overall goodness.

Pie crusts are a combination of Flour + Fat + Drops of Water + Salt (and optional seasonings). They are different from mixed batters (cakes) and yeast bread doughs which use a much higher proportion of liquids to flour.

With a certain exceptions, such as pie crust, this blog will not center on baking. Please refer to any of numerous baking cookbooks that discuss every detail from chemistry of ingredients and techniques to delicious recipes. Invest in the classic "Art of Fine Baking" by Paula Peck (1961), "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum (2004), or "Stars Desserts" by Emily Luchetti (1991) for very original presentations based on the classics. Practice the basics and discover the world of possibilities.

If you are considering one reference book for all phases of cooking and food science--a book that answers all the questions, it is "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee (revised 2004). I refer to it frequently for well researched facts on many different food issues.

Top Picture---finished crust after oven baking
Middle picture---unmolded tart with apples on top!
Third picture---apples cooking and caramelizing on stove top

Procedure:

I. Make your crust, shape into a flattened ball, and chill at least an hour.

If you want to try my basic recipe, here it is (I always weigh pastry ingredients):

For a double crust or two 9" shells, place in food processor with metal blade:

300 grams all purpose flour
150 grams cold lard (not the soft stuff in pails) cut into small chunks
1 teaspoon salt for sweet crust
1 Tablespoon sugar for sweet crust

Pulse a few times until flour and fat are combined into pea sized bits.

Add about 1/4 cup ice cold water--half to start, and then more if needed.

Pulse 2-3 times more (that's enough) just until dough is evenly moistened. Stop processor and test by pinching a bit of dough with your fingers. It should just hold together. If not, add a few drops more water. Too much water means tough pastry.

Scrape into a bowl (easier clean up), or on the counter, and gather it together with a plastic pastry scraper and push it away from you (smear) with the heel of your hand. Repeat 2 or 3 times. Dough should appear "layered" not kneaded. Form into a ball, dust with flour and wrap in plastic wrap for chilling.

This makes a standard American 2-crust pie crust. I like to have plenty to work with and make this upside down tart with a little thicker crust, so I use about 1 1/2 of this batch. Roll and bake the leftover as little pie crust cookies, topped with cinnamon and sugar. Yum.

II. Prepare the apples

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Use Golden Delicious apples for best results. They do not disintegrate while cooking.

8 - 10 apples, depending on their size, peeled, split in half, and cored (use a melon baller to core--a snap). Place halves in a bowl with juice of a lemon and turn them over to get some lemon on them while you continue peeling (lemon juice prevents darkening, and adds taste). Better to have an extra apple or two than not enough to fill your pan.

Use a 9 or 10 inch cast iron frying pan for the caramelizing which is done on a stove burner.
Put 3/4 stick of butter in the pan and a generous cup of sugar. Melt the butter and mix in the sugar. Add the apples, cut side up (the dome side will be the finished side after baking and unmolding), overlapping slightly. Cook apples until a thick syrup is formed around them (about 15 minutes on fairly high heat). Juices should be looking syrupy thick. Remove from heat.

Roll your chilled pastry to a circle which will fit over the apples and touch the edge of the frying pan.
Prick in 5 or 6 places with a fork. Place pan with apples in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until crust is well browned. I use a drip catcher (any metal tray, pizza pan, or a sheet of aluminum foil) under pies to avoid spills, even though this recipe rarely has cooked over.

When finished, remove from oven, set in a safe place (pan is HOT) to cool for about 15 minutes. You are going to turn this pie out onto a plate or platter for service. If you let it get too cool in the baking pan, the caramel will stick and you can't unmold it. If there is too much juice, it will run beyond the crust. You have to use some judgment here.

Use mitt potholders for this procedure--it's still pretty warm. Cover the cooking pan with your service plate (use a slightly larger diameter plate). Turn this over a cooky sheet if you are nervous about spills. Quickly reverse the frying pan onto the plate. Set both down on the counter and be sure all apples, caramel, etc., have come out of the pan and rest on your plate before removing frying pan. If necessary, gently arrange the apples and spoon or spatula any remaining caramel in the baking pan and spread over your tart.

Serve slices plain, or with a little dollop of heavy cream or creme fraiche.

All pies and tarts are best eaten on the day they are baked--crusts are delicate and absorb juices rather quickly. They still are tasty later, but not crisp.

ENJOY!
KGC