Tarte tatin

You may feel that you have eaten too much... But this pastry is like feathers – it is like snow. It is in fact good for you, a digestive!
— M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

In the small town of Lamotte-Beuvron in the Loire Valley at the end of the 19th century, sisters Carolina and Stefani (Fania) Tatin opened the Hotel Tatin. Stefani was the cook. Legend says that one day, as Stefani was making apple cake, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten to put the batter on the bottom of the pan before adding the apples. In order not to lose money and time, she spooned the batter on top, baked it in the oven, and after taking it out, she flipped it over. But this is not the only legend. Another says that Stefani was tired and let the apples caramelize too much in the pan, so she covered them up with batter to hide the mistake. Whatever the true story may be remains a secret known only by the sisters, but one thing is clear – she was not the inventor of this type of cake. Similar cakes, known as tarte solognote (Sologne is the region where Lamotte-Beuvron is located), were already being made, but the fact that their hotel made the cake famous and delectable is incontrovertible. Continue reading here.

750 g peeled and cored apples, quartered
220 g white sugar
90 g butter
pinch sea salt
1/2 organic orange zest, grated
1/3 lemon zest, finely grated 
1/3 vanilla pod
300 g puff pastry


Heat oven to 200°C. Put the sugar and butter in a 25 cm heavy-bottom oven-proof frying pan. Place on medium-high heat and cook the sugar and butter for 5-7 mins to a dark amber caramel. Mix with a wooden spoon or hand whisk until it is a uniform mass.

While the caramel is cooking, roll the pastry 3mm thick the size of the pan or a few millimeters larger. If you feel that there is too much to do, roll out the pastry before cooking apples. 

Arrange the apple quarters very tightly in a circle. Start with the outer edge, then filling the middle. Gently press with your hands to ensure there are no gaps. Cut a small cross in the middle of the pastry and place it on the apples, tucking the sides in. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

Take out of the oven and leave to stand for five minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the dish and invert it onto a large serving plate that is deep enough to contain the juices.