Tarte Tatin — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A caramelised upside-down apple tart where butter, sugar, and apples cook into a deep amber caramel beneath a golden pastry lid, then flipped to reveal glistening fruit.

Ingredients

6-8 firm apples (Golden Delicious or Braeburn), peeled, halved, cored
100g unsalted butter
150g sugar
1 sheet puff pastry or shortcrust dough
1 tsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Instructions

1 Melt butter and sugar in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat, stirring until a deep amber caramel forms (about 8 min).
2 Arrange apple halves tightly in the caramel, rounded side down. Cook on the stove for 15 min until apples soften and caramel darkens.
3 Roll pastry to a circle slightly larger than the skillet. Drape over the apples, tucking edges down around the fruit.
4 Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25-30 min until the pastry is golden and puffed.
5 Cool 5 min, then place a plate over the skillet and flip in one confident motion. Serve warm.

Did You Know?

The tarte was supposedly created by accident when the Tatin sisters at their hotel in Lamotte-Beuvron dropped an apple tart and flipped it to save it.