How much beauty is there in this Tarte Tatin? I’ve been circling around this version of the Ribbon Tart Tatin for years. It is a revisitation of the classic recipe in which the “cut” of the apples makes the difference and gives the cake a very particular texture.
To do it well (and easily) you need an apple peeler like this one from Lurch. There are different types on the market and for all budgets. The apple peeler should produce a thin but strong “apple ribbon”.
Ingredients (for 3 single portion mini tatins – 8 cm diameter cocottes, 5 cm high)
- 3 large apples (suggestione: Pink Lady or Envy, they have the right consistency for cutting)
- 150g of granulated sugar
- 150g of water
- 3 little squares of butter (15 g each)
- Butter for coating the cocottes
- rolled out puff pastry
- sugar and egg for brushing
Butter the cocottes with butter.
Start by peeling the apples and cutting the ends with a knife. Place the apple on the cutter’s skewer and start slicing, obtaining a nice long ribbon. Repeat with the rest of the apples. Carefully roll up the apple ribbon to wrap it slowly on itself to obtain a tight and compact roll. If the ribbon is broken into various parts, don’t be discouraged, continue rolling on the roll already created until you obtain a roll the size of your cocotte.
Separately, prepare the liquid caramel by placing the water and sugar in a thick-bottomed saucepan and bringing to the boil over a low heat. Do not touch and mix. You will have to wait for the syrup to reach the boil (always on a low heat) and boil for a while until it starts to turn blonde, at which point mix by rotating the saucepan and put it back on the heat until it reaches a nice blonde caramel color ( not too dark please, it will still have to cook in the oven).
With a ladle or spoon, cover the bottom of the cocottes well and place a small square of butter on top and at this point place your apple roll on top, pushing down a little. Repeat for all the cocottes.
Place the cocottes on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a hot oven at 180° and cook until the apples are cooked when tested with a fork. about halfway through cooking so that they are cooked delicately and with two spoons (be careful that the caramel burns terribly) try turning the roll in the cocotte so that it caramelizes well on both sides (it will take about 45 minutes, but it depends a lot on the apples that you have chosen). It should be a nice caramel brown. Take out and let cool.
While the apples are cooking, roll out the ready puff pastry, brush it with egg and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Cut discs 2-3 cm larger than the diameter of the cocottes. Prick them with a fork and put them in the oven, on another shelf, and cook until golden brown (it will take about 15-10 minutes). Take out and let cool.
Place the puff pastry disc on a saucer to serve the dessert and then delicately place the caramelized apple roll with its base (if there is any left) on top. Leave to assemble for 30 minutes (you can also prepare them the day before for the next day, keeping them in the fridge closed in an airtight container to prevent the puff pastry from getting damp)
Before serving, heat the cake for 10 minutes in the oven until the cake is lukewarm and serve with a scoop of cream ice cream.
It’s indeed a BEAUTIFUL dessert, and the ribbon cut gives it an incredible consistency 🙂
