Tarte Tartin

"But what I liked best was watching people eat the food I had cooked, leaning in to listen to one another.  Good food, I saw, was about more than merely eating."  Ruth Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires

When I find quotes I like I am going to include them in the blog... like this one!  Ruth Reichl was the New York Times food critic and the editor of Gourmet magazine, and her book is so much fun to read.  Especially if you enjoy reading about any kind of food.

This feeling is something that I love to experience and I am itching for it to happen with my apple tart.  I combined a couple of recipes and got a fairly yummy tart, but it is still a work in progress at this point.  Here is what I did for my tart.

First I made the dough.  You can do this the night before (which I did), and it makes it a bit easier if you are making multiple dishes.  You will need one stick of unsalted butter, one egg, two tablespoons cold water, a pinch of salt, and 1 2/3 cup plain flour.

Once the butter is very soft put it all into a mixer on low.  Just let it pulse for a couple of seconds before adding the egg and then the water.  Then add the salt and all but two tablespoons of the flour.

Stop mixing when it looks like this.  You don't want it to form into a ball.  Take the dough out and flatten it into a circle.  Put it on a plate, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it chill for at least an hour but up to twenty four.

Now for the apple goo!  I went to Chuck Hughes for this because he is so cute and hilarious!  He says to use golden delicious apples, but I used ten granny smith apples.  You need to peel, core, and quarter them.  I think it's easier to use a knife to peel them because it's SO much faster.  I also think that quarters were too large for what I wanted, but its entirely your own preference!

Heat the oven to 350.  You will need a 12-inch nonstick skillet-- this is the pan you will be cooking the tart in so keep that in mind!  Melt 1/4 cup of butter and 1 cup of sugar into the pan and stir until it caramelizes.  This will take between ten and fifteen minutes.  Take it off the heat so it can cool a little.

Enjoy the slide show?  It takes me back to the smell of caramel, which if you have never experienced first hand, you MUST.  Yum.

Now layer the apples in a pretty spiral thing.  Try to keep it as even as possible since it will be the top.  Then add another layer and fill in all of the holes.

Roll out the dough (use the reserved flour if it's too sticky to handle), and layer the dough over the apples.  Chuck suggests using puff pastry.  Next time I think I'll try it that way!

There will be dough falling over the top so scrunch it into the pan.  I cut several holes in the dough so heat could escape.  Let the tart bake for 30 minutes until it is a beautiful golden brown.  Allow the pie to sit only five minutes before flipping it.  The caramel will get hard if you wait too long to flip it!

I think it's easiest to flip the tart on the platter you're going to serve it on because it is sticky from the caramel, which is a fantastic thing!

Heat the left over caramel in the pan and drizzle over the top of the tart.

Now all you need is some homemade vanilla ice cream and you have a decadent gooey dessert perfect for any occasion!

Apple Tart
Dough:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons cold water
a pinch of salt
1 2/3 cup plain flour, sifted
Filling:
10 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter