French Tart, American Make-Over

by Crescent Dragonwagon

Relish the American Table is a weekly column that appears in newspapers across the country.

One busy day in 1889, a little French apple tart made culinary history. The village of Lamotte-Beuvron, at the south end of the Loire Valley, is an hour and half by train from Paris. Then, as now, it’s an area that attracts visitors, and on that fateful day, at the peak of hunting season, the large stone Hotel Tatin was full. The establishment was run by sisters Caroline and Stephanie, who’d inherited it from their father. Caroline, gracious, warm, detail-oriented, was the hostess. Stephanie, reputedly less sociable and a bit of a feather-head, was a brilliant cook.

The restaurant filled with hungry sportsmen. Orders poured in, and Stephanie forgot about a pan of apples sautéing on the stove. They didn’t burn, but they cooked just a little longer than usual. She popped a pastry crust on top of the slightly caramelized apples, instead of scraping them into a crust (usual for tarts). She baked it, reversed it out onto a platter and served it to great acclaim.

Many stories surround Tarte Tatin. Today nearly every restaurant in Lamotte-Beuvron serves it, as does Maxim’s, the famous Parisian restaurant (which allegedly sent a spy to steal the recipe). There’s a Tarte Tatin festival at Lamotte-Beuvron each fall, at which La Confrereie des Lichoneux de Tarte Tatin (the Brotherhood of the Tarte Tatin) defend their beloved pastry against impostors who attempt to fancy it up.

Why is this apple tart legendary? First, its pure fall essence-of-apple taste is splendid (quite different from the also-splendid American apple pie, in which spices vie with apple-ness). Next, it’s beautiful: the wedges of sugar-poached apple are a luminous, translucent gold. Then, there’s the same dramatic trick as that old American favorite, the upside down cake: flip, et voila!

But surely the final reason is this: Tarte Tatin was a mistake that became a triumph. May all our accidents have such happy endings.

Tarte Tatin

Mark Boughton

Printer Friendly Version

Do you like to print recipes and add them to your collection? You're in luck. Use our printer friendly version of this recipe.

add to my recipe box

Find more recipes with:
cheese , butter , tarte , tatin , fruit

Instead of a pastry crust, we’ve used a thin, crisp biscuit topping (in the manner of the old New England dessert known as “Plate Cakes”). This biscuit is made with shredded sharp cheese and a touch of cornmeal. The play of this against the sweet apples is quite spectacular, as anyone who’s ever enjoyed a wedge of sharp Cheddar with a piece of apple pie, can surely imagine.

Ingredients

Cooking spray

Fruit:
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup light brown sugar
5 to 6 apples (such as Golden Delicious), pared, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Cheese Biscuit Crust:
¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling
1/3 cup stoneground yellow cornmeal
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¾ cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
½ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
Ice water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Coat a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium heat. Add butter; swirl pan to coat bottom evenly. Add sugar, and cook over medium heat, shaking occasionally, until sugar starts to melt.
2. Add apples, placing prettiest wedges in first, curved side down, in concentric circles. Then top with several more layers of apple wedges (they don’t have to be orderly). Cover, lower heat slightly, and steam about 6 to 8 minutes, occasionally shaking pan gently, lifting lid, and spooning cooking liquid over apples, then recovering. Remove lid, turn off heat, and drizzle maple syrup over apples. Set aside.
3. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking power, baking soda and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and cheeses, and pulse several times until mealy, with distinct but small pieces of butter and cheese. Add buttermilk; pulse. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until dough begins to come together.
4. Turn out onto a floured board; press or roll into a circle the size of the skillet. It will be thicker than a pastry crust but much thinner than a conventional biscuit. Don’t worry about tears.
5. Place dough on top of apples, tucking any extra in at the sides. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until top crust is very golden and a bit crisp.
6. Let stand about 5 minutes; then turn out onto a large platter, replacing any apples that may have stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Serve warm. Serves 8.

NOTE: Golden Delicious are the classic apple the French use for Tarte Tatin, but any crisp flavorful fall apple will work beautifully, except Granny Smiths, which resist softening as they cook.

Recipe by Crescent Dragonwagon, "Relish the American Table," Oct. 14, 2006.

Nutritional Information

Per serving: 300 calories, 14g fat, 7g prot., 42g carbs., 2g fiber, 520mg sodium.