Apple Tart Tatin

By Derek Bissonnette

Feature Image by Derek Bissonnette

Enjoy this Apple Tart Tatin with our salted caramel sauce, perfectly sweet whipped cream, and your favorite local ice cream.

Print Recipe

Makes

to 6 servings

Ingredients

½ cup butter room temperature
½ cup sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
6 Granny Smith apples
1 sheet puff pastry
Salted caramel sauce for garnish (recipe included)
Whipped cream for garnish (recipe included)
Your favorite local ice cream for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.
In an 8-inch cast-iron pan, spread the butter evenly to coat the entire pan. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the butter. Place the cinnamon sticks on top of the butter, creating a cross.
Peel and core the apples, then cut each apple in half (from top to bottom). Cut these halves into 8 even slices; each apple should yield 16 slices.
Fill the pan with apple slices. (I often place the first layer in a nice pattern, as it will be your presentation side once you serve the tart.) The pan should be well rounded with apples and as full as possible.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place on the stove, using the lowest flame or setting. Cook for 45 minutes or until apples are nice and caramelized on the outside edges.
Once the apples are caramelized, remove from heat and allow to cool.
Cut the puff pastry into an 8-inch circle, place on top of the cooled apples, and dock with a small knife. These incisions will allow the heat to escape while baking. Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and cool for 2 hours. This will allow the natural pectin in the apples to bind together and help maintain the tart’s shape.
To remove the tart from the pan, place back in the oven for 5 minutes, then take it out and gently flip the tart onto a cutting board. Cut into 4–6 slices.

About the author

Derek Bissonnette

When Derek Bissonnette was 16 he landed his first kitchen gig, at a bakery in Searsport, Maine. He went on to study baking and pastry at the Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 2000. He got hired as the pastry chef at Kennebunk’s estimable White Barn Inn, jumped to the renowned Inn at Little Washington in rural Virginia, and then joined the kitchen at an elegant English countryside hotel, The Summer Lodge Country House Hotel and Spa. In 2009, he returned to Maine and the White Barn. In 2015, he was promoted to executive chef. After Bissonnette took over the White Barn kitchen, he started toting a camera to work to create a visual record of dishes he and his staff came up with. Photography clicked with him. “Making food look great is something I’ve always strived for,” he says. “To do that through a fresh medium was exciting.” In 2017, he gave up his apron to pursue photography full time. Shortly after leaving the White Barn, Derek partnered with Cider Mill Press and Countryman Press to create five cook books: The Ultimate Books of Soups and Stews: Signed by the author Dumplings: Over 100 Recipes from the Heart of China to the Coasts of Italy The Maine Farm Table Cookbook: Signed by the author Soups: Over 100 Soups, Stews and Chowders On Board: Inspiration Ideas and Recipes for Exceptional Entertaining