Apple tarte tatin

SERVES 8 PREP & COOK TIME 1 HOUR 40 MINUTES (+ REFRIGERATION TIME)

140g butter, chopped

1 cup (220g) caster sugar 7 medium Granny Smith apples (1kg), peeled, quartered 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes ROUGH PUFF PASTRY

1⅔ cups (250g) plain flour 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

250g cold butter, chopped finely

ROUGH PUFF PASTRY: Place flour and salt in a medium bowl. Rub in butter with your fingertips until almost combined but leaving small lumps of butter. Add ½ cup (125ml) ice-cold water; mix gently with a butter knife to a streaky dough. Roll dough on a lightly-floured surface into a 20cm x 40cm rectangle, with the short side in front of you. Fold dough into thirds by bringing the top third down over the middle third, then the bottom third up to cover the folded dough. Turn pastry a quarter turn to the right; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Place the dough in the same position it was before refrigerating. Repeat rolling, folding and the quarter-turn, two more times. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).

3 Stir 60g of the butter and ¼ cup (55g) of the sugar in a 24cm ovenproof frying pan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Add apples; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until lightly coloured. Add lemon juice, vanilla and salt; stir to combine. Bake apples for 8 minutes or until softened slightly. Transfer apples to a large plate; leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile, roll pastry between sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Cut a 28cm round from pastry. Refrigerate until needed.

Rinse and dry ovenproof frying pan. Add remaining sugar and ¼ cup (60ml) water to pan; cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer without stirring for 6 minutes or until a deep amber caramel. Remove from heat; whisk in remaining butter (be careful when adding butter to caramel as it may splutter). Set aside to cool.

Increase oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Arrange apples over caramel; top with pastry, tucking edges around side of apples.

Bake tart for 40 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and cooked through. Leave in pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a serving dish.

Pastry can be made 1 month in advance and frozen; defrost in the fridge the day before using. Tart can be assembled 1 day ahead; keep covered in the fridge, then bake fresh on the day of serving. If you don’t have time to make the pastry from scratch, Careme butter puff pastry can be used instead.