Apple tart tatin
SERVES 6-8 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES
8 small (1kg) Golden Delicious apples (if unavailable, use small Pink Lady) 60g unsalted butter, chopped
¾ cup (165g) caster sugar 2 tablespoons water or lemon juice 375g packet butter puff pastry, thawed (see Test Kitchen tips) thick cream, to serve
1 Peel, quarter and core the apples. Melt the butter in a heavy-based frying pan with an ovenproof handle (23cm base measurement, 28cm top). Combine sugar and water in pan; stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to mediumhigh; cook, stirring, until mixture turns a light caramel colour (see Step 1, right).
2 Add apples to pan. At this stage, caramel will harden slightly, but as apples cook and release their juices, caramel will remelt. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, turning apples gently so as not to break them, for about 15 minutes or until very tender and translucent (Step 2).
3 Remove the pan from heat; arrange the apple quarters as desired (Step 3). Cool for 10 minutes.
4 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced). Roll pastry out slightly larger than the pan size (Step 4a). Place pastry over apples; tuck the edge of the pastry around the apples (Step 4b). It’s essential to tuck in the edges of pastry to hold in as much caramel as possible.
Prick top of the pastry a couple of times with a knife tip to allow steam to escape.
5 Bake for about for 30 to 35 minutes or until pastry is well browned and crisp. Remove from oven; stand for 5 minutes before inverting onto a heatproof serving plate (Step 5). Serve warm with thick cream, or ice-cream, if desired. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.