One of the wonders of French cuisine is the caramelized apple tart served upside down and familiarly called Tarte Tatin. Actually, its formal name is La tarte des Demoiselles Tatin, or the Tatin Spinsters' Apple Tart. It was invented by the elder of two unmarried sisters who took over the running of their deceased father's hotel in the rural town of Lamotte-Beuvron in the fertile and picturesque area known as the Loire Valley.
At the Hotel Tatin 
Caroline
Tatin (1847-1911) greeted the customers and ran the business side of the
establishment. Her older sister 
Stephanie
Tatin (1838-1917) worked in the kitchen and her apple tart was noted for
its caramel flavor and texture. According to legend, one day in 1898
when the hotel was especially busy during the hunting season, Stephanie
absent-mindedly put the peeled apple quarters, butter and sugar in the
pan without first lining it with pastry. Realizing her mistake, she then
put the pastry on top of the simmering apples, popped it in the oven, inverted
it and served the new concoction warm, possibly with a dollop of creme
fraiche.
The delicious apple dessert soon became famous throughout France, and today the autumn season is welcomed with a special celebration devoted to the Tarte Tatin the first weekend in September at the town where it was invented.
There are numerous recipes on the internet, including the one, in both French and English, purported to be the original from the town of Lamotte-Beuvron. For Americans, however, the following is an easy way to approximate the genuine article in the home kitchen.
TARTE TATIN
1/4 cup (half a stick)
of unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
8 golden delicious
apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1 sheet frozen puff
pastry (e.g. Pepperidge Farm brand)
Melt butter in a 10-12
inch diameter pan with sloping sides. Add sugar and cook for about
5 minutes, stirring occasionally until sugar melts and becomes deep amber
colored. Place half of the apples, cut side up and touching, in the
bottom of the pan.
Arrange remaining
apples, peeled side up, over apples in pan. Cover bottom of pan with apples
and place a lid on top. Cook slowly over medium heat about 25 minutes
until apples become juicy and tender. Uncover pan and continue to simmer
apples for about 35 minutes, until they are very tender and the juice in
the pan is reduced to a thick caramel.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out pastry sheet to 1/4 inch thick and cut into a circle to fit over apples in pan. Tuck edge of pastry down into pan, covering apples completely. Bake about 35 minutes until crust is golden brown and puffed. Cool tart in pan about 5 minutes. Invert serving plate on top of pan. Grasp both plate and pan (or pan handles) with hot pads, and turn them over together. Gently lift the pan from the plate as the apples drop down over the puffed pastry. Serve warm.
Who Cooked That Up?
is copyrighted 2002 by J.J. Schnebel
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