Snack · 70 min · french

Tarte Tatin

This is the kind of French snack you’ll make on repeat — firm apples and granulated sugar, 70 minutes, big payoff.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 8 Firm apples
• 1 cup Granulated sugar
• 6 tbsp Unsalted butter
• 1 sheet Puff pastry
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract

Steps

1. Use apples that hold their shape — Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Granny Smith. Peel, quarter, and core them; soft apples collapse into applesauce and the tart loses its architecture.
2. Melt the butter in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat, stir in the sugar and vanilla, and cook — stirring at first, then swirling — until it turns a deep amber, like strong tea. Pull it off the heat the moment it gets there; caramel goes from perfect to bitter in seconds.
3. Arrange the apple quarters tightly in the caramel, rounded side down, packing them in a single snug layer. They shrink as they cook, so crowd them shamelessly. Return to medium heat 10 minutes so the apples soften and release their juices into the caramel.
4. Drape the puff pastry over the top, tucking the edges down inside the pan like a blanket. Cut a few steam slits. Bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is puffed and deeply golden.
5. Rest exactly 5 minutes — no more, or the caramel sets and welds itself to the pan — then lay a serving plate over the skillet and flip in one confident motion. Lift the pan slowly and rearrange any apples that stuck. Serve warm, ideally with crème fraîche.

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