TARTE TATIN

We did this yesterday at Patisserie. This classic dessert, the 'upside dowm apple tart' was made famous by Maxim in Paris. The bottom of the baking dish is caramelized sugar & butter (not easy to make as it requires careful heat control) on which we put a thick layer of cooked apples, before the puff pastry crust. The caramel becomes the topping when the tart is inverted. It must therefore be served warm ... 'to the French a room temperature Tarte Tatin is not worth the pan it is baked on'. Really?

I googled the term and discovered a bit of fun history. The tarte was created by 2 sisters Carolina & Stephine Tatin at the l'Hotel Tatin in the Loire Valley back in 1888. Stephine put the tarte in the oven wrong side up one day, and here we are! The French call this dessert 'Tarte des demoiselles Tatin' ie the tarte of two unmarried women named Tatin. It was rumored the tarte became so famous Maxim sent a 'spy' to the hotel, disguised as a gardener, to 'steal' the recipe, and it has been on the menu since. I love these stories, they are as juicy as the recipes.