Individual Shortcut Tart Tatins

Julia Child was not the only master of French Desserts – before Julia were the Tatin sisters. They created the now famous apple dessert recipe “Tart Tatin”  that has stumped many accomplished home cooks and even chefs for several generations now – including me!

I love this dessert so much, I decided to come up with a fool-proof version – perfect for your superbowl buffet or a special sweetheart dessert – this is your stress-free Valentine’s Day recipe!

I used three basic steps (I remember it by “CAP”): C) caramel in the bottom, A) apple slices next, then P) pastry on top. I used purchased frozen puff pastry here for convenience, or you can make this dish even more frugally by making up a batch of my Five Minute Puff Pastry!

If you are not an actual French pastry chef yourself, these little yummies will fool you – the taste is that close to the Real Deal!  And, instead of hours of frustration, usually involving tears and cursing, you will be singing and smiling because they are a snap to throw together! The apples have that same slow-braised taste and the crust stays crispy and delicious!

Use any firm baking apples for this recipe – such as Jonathans, Red Romes, Granny Smiths or Golden Delicious, or any combination of these. If you’re going to use a few pears, you MUST use firm Anjou pears for this recipe – other pears are turn to mush in this recipe.

I used Corningware glass baking cups for this – I like being able to see how brown the apples are getting when you peek in the oven.

Layering the apple and pear slices in the cups on top of caramel

Placing puff pastry on top of fruit in baking cups

SHORTCUT INDIVIDUAL TARTS TATIN

Prep time 30 minutes
Baking and resting time 90 minutes total
Serves 8

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 large firm baking apples
4 large firm but ripe D’anjou pears
Two sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

Place brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, butter and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a slow simmer and cook for 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and let cool to warm.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Using 8 10-ounce ramekins or glass baking cups, Place 3 tablespoons caramel sauce in the bottom of each cup. (Use remaining caramel sauce to drizzle over tarts before serving.)

Peel and core apples and pears, then slice them a little thicker than 1/4 inch thickness. Arrange slices so that they fill the cups as snugly as possible.

Cut puff pastry in circles slightly smaller than the tops of the baking cups. Prick pastry circles with a fork all over to decrease puffiness of the pastry. Place pastry circles so that they fit just inside the cups and cover tops of fruit slices.

Place filled cups on a baking sheet and bake at center of oven for about 50 minutes, or a little longer until well browned.

Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Invert onto serving plates.

Finished tarts out of the oven - before inverting onto serving plates

Other food bloggers’ adventures with Tart Tatin ( the classic apple version):
The Wonders of Tart Tatin, Mark Bittman on Food
Tart Tatin, Chocolate and Zucchini
Tart Tatin, Tender Crumb
Apple Tart Tatin, Playing House
Tart Tatin, Blue Ridge Baker
How to Make Tart Tatin, Joe Pastry
Tart Tatin with a Cheddar Crust, She Craves
Tart Tatin, King Arthur Flour
Tart Tatin, The Food Librarian
Tart Tatin, Taste Food

– posted by Donna

I LOVE using frozen puff pastry. It is an amazing substance. It will instantly transform an amateur pastry maker like myself into a top-notch pastry chef. But it is spendy and doesn’t keep well, and a little on the oily side.

For about a year now I have been tinkering with a homemade dough that doesn’t take an entire day to make and still has that rich, buttery flaky layered texture that is the puff pastry hallmark.  I won’t bore you with all the variations, but I made about 30 versions, trying to get the balance of ingredients just right to maximize flavor and texture.

I FINALLY FINISHED IT THIS WEEKEND!

My sister Sandy is a culinary student who has a pastry certificate. She was here this weekend and gave it her stamp of approval! She was impressed with  the texture given how little time was invested in making it. It only takes 5 minutes of prep time. No, seriously, 5 MINUTES! I am NOT making that up!

These little small discs are great for making individual tarts by spreading with a little pudding or flavored cream cheese and topping with fresh fruit.

***Stayed tuned for my next post in a few days for “Red, White and Blueberry Tarts,” made with this pastry just in time for the Fourth of July***

So, here it is in all its flaky buttery glory!

5 MINUTE HOMEMADE PUFF PASTRY

1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese, cold
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
1 tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut butter into very small cubes and place in freezer for at least 1o minutes. Place flour and salt in a food processor. Cut cream cheese into small cubes and add to food processor. Add frozen butter cubes to food processor. Pulse in 1-second pulses for about 8 to 10 pulses, until small crumb stage.

Turn processor on and stream in the water and lemon juice, just for a few seconds until the dough begins to come together in a ball.  Flatten dough into a small disc, wrap in plastic wrap and then refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and let stand about 20 minutes, until soft and cool to the touch. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Fold dough over itself in thirds. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness again.

Cut into shapes as desired and bake on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake near top of of oven for 15 to 18 minutes, depending on size of shapes, until light golden brown, watching closely the last few minutes so as not to burn.

– posted by Donna

c – Copyright 2009 by Donna Kelly -
Commercial use with permission only