Russet and rum tarte tatin

1 HOUR 15 MINUTES SERVES 4-6 | A LITTLE EFFORT

A decent tarte tatin is one of the cornerstones of the orchard repertoire. I’ve made countless variations over the years, but this has to be my favourite. The rum can be replaced with calvados for equally enjoyable results, although it does compromise the pleasingly alliterative recipe title somewhat.

golden caster sugar 60g

soft light brown sugar 40g

butter 50g

dark rum 50ml

Russet apples (or other eating apple)

4, peeled, cored and halved

ready-made puff pastry 150g

• Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. For the caramel, put the sugars in a heavybottomed, 20cm ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat. Keep a watchful eye – when it has melted into a dark golden caramel, take the pan off the heat and carefully stir in the butter, then the rum. Mix quickly and thoroughly.

• Turn the heat down, return the pan to the hob and cook the apples in the caramel for 5 minutes or until they start to soften slightly. Arrange the apples curved-side down in the pan and remove from the heat.

• Roll the puff pastry out thinly and use a 22-23cm plate as a guide to cut out a large circle. Drape the pastry over the apples, tuck the edges in around the fruit and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the puff pastry is firm and golden. Let the tarte tatin cool for 5 minutes, put a plate on top of the pastry and carefully turn over. Remove the pan and spoon over any left-over caramel. Eat immediately!

PER SERVING 269 KCALS | FAT 13.6G SATURATES 7.5G | CARBS 29.4G | SUGARS 21.8G FIBRE 1.2G | PROTEIN 1.8G | SALT 0.4G