Classic Tarte Tatin In A Cast Iron Skillet Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add the sugar to a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Cook gently, swirling often until the sugar melts and becomes golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat.
• Peel, core and halve the apples. Begin arranging the apple halves in a circular shape around the border of the skillet, standing them on the core ends. Fill the center part of the skillet with a smaller circle of the apples. Fill in any gaps with the smaller top and bottom pieces. Because the fruit will shrink considerably as it cooks, it is better to crowd the pan with fruit.
• Place the skillet back on the stovetop on a fairly high heat and cook until the fruit starts to become tender and soak up the caramel at the bottom, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat again and rotate each apple piece halfway so the tops of the fruit are now sitting in the caramel on the bottom. Return the skillet to the heat and cook for an additional 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat.
• Roll the puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface so it's larger than the skillet by 1 inch. Gently drape it over the skillet. Tuck the dough edges loosely inside the skillet so it covers the fruit (as if you are tucking the fruit into a pastry bed).
• Bake until bubbly around the edges, golden brown and delicious, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and cool 5 to 10 minutes. Then, scoop and spoon onto plates. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Steps:

• Lightly flour a clean work surface. Using a rolling pin, gently roll out dough into an 11-inch round about 1/8 inch thick, being careful not to press too hard around the edge. Transfer to a baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator at least 1 hour.
• In a large bowl, toss apple wedges with lemon juice. Heat a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; melt butter in pan, and sprinkle sugar in an even layer on top. Remove from heat; arrange apple wedges around bottom of pan in a circular pattern, starting from the edge and working toward the center. Since this layer of apples will be the top of the tart, once inverted, it should be arranged attractively. Once bottom of pan is covered with apples, lay remaining wedges on top, distributing them evenly throughout.
• Place pan over medium-low heat; cook until apples start to soften and their juices are thickened and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pastry round over apples, and press around the edge of pan to fully enclose. Bake until pastry is puffed and golden brown all over and apples are well caramelized, 35 to 40 minutes. If during this time the pastry is browning too much, cover it loosely with aluminum foil.
• Transfer pan to a wire rack; let tart cool slightly, about 1 hour. When ready to turn out, place pan over medium heat to loosen caramel and apples from the bottom, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; run a sharp knife around the edge, and carefully invert tart onto a large serving plate. Allow pan to sit for 1 minute on top of tart after inverting to allow the apples to completely loosen. Gently lift off pan; replace any apples that may have stuck. Cut into wedges, and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a heavy-bottom 10-inch ovenproof or cast-iron skillet, stir together the 3/4 cup sugar and the vinegar. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the skillet (save the vanilla bean for another use). Heat over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Cook over medium heat, without stirring, for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is amber in color (like a brown paper bag). Remove from the heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and swirl until the butter has melted. Let cool for 10 minutes.
• Carefully arrange the apples over the sugar mixture in concentric circles, being careful not to touch the hot sugar mixture. Dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
• Place the puff pastry over the apples and tuck the sides down around the apples. Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon sugar over the dough. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and crisp and the pan juices are bubbling. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully invert onto a rimmed cake plate to serve.

Steps:

• To make the dough in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until reduced to ½ inch pieces. Add the water a little at a time and pulse until the dough just begins to come together in a rough mass.
• To make the dough by hand, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and shortening and toss to coat with the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the pieces of fat into the flour mixture until they are no larger than small peas. Distribute the water over the mixture and toss with a fork until the dough is evenly moist and begins to come together in a rough mass.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface and shape into a 5-inch disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.
• Lightly dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll out the chilled dough into a 12-inch round a scant ¼ inch think. Lift and turn the dough several times as you roll to prevent s sticking, and dust the surface and rolling pin with additional flour as needed. Use a dough scraper or icing spatula to loosen the pastry if it sticks. Trim this dough into an 11-inch round. Slide a rimless baking sheet under the dough, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.
• To make the filling, set a 10-inch straight-sided, ovenproof fry pan, preferably cast iron, over medium heat and melt the butter. When it melts, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the butter and continue cooking until the sugar melts and turns amber colored, 3 to 4 minutes. Shake and swirl the pan frequently to redistribute the sugar for even melting and caramelization.
• Arrange the apples, side up, in the caramel in a snug, even layer. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the apples are just tender about 15 minutes. The caramel will bubble up around the apples. Remove the pan from the heat.
• Uncover the pastry round. When the bubbling has subsided, slide both hands under the pastry round and carefully place it on top of the apples, tucking in the edges and being careful not to burn your fingers. Bake until the crust is golden brown. About 30 minutes.
• Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 6 minutes. Place a large flat serving plate upside down on top of the pan and invert the pan and plate together. Lift off the pan. Slice and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
• ***It's really not essential to take this apple creation from your skillet - serve it from your cast iron and you'll feel authentic. Kinda romantic to be so casual about something so yummy.

Steps:

• Halve and core apples. Set aside one half. Quarter remaining apples and transfer to a large bowl. Squeeze lemon over apple slices and set aside.
• Combine sugar and water in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat; immediately reduce heat to medium and cook until mixture begins to thicken and turn amber. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
• Place reserved apples in center of skillet. Decoratively arrange remaining apple slices, cut side up, in skillet around reserved apples. Continue layering slices until level with top of skillet. Cut any remaining apples into thick slices to fill in gaps. If fruit does not completely fill pan, tart will collapse when inverted.
• Place skillet over low heat and cook until syrup thickens and is reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Do not let syrup burn. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
• Roll out pate brisee to a 10- to 11-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick; transfer to a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Place pate brisee over apples and tuck edges. Transfer skillet to prepared baking sheet; transfer baking sheet to oven and bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 15 to 20 minutes. Loosen pastry from skillet using a sharp knife. Place a rimmed platter over skillet; quickly and carefully invert. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Roll pastry sheet into a 101/2-inch square on a floured work surface with a floured rolling pin. Brush off excess flour and cut out a 10-inch round with a sharp knife, using a plate as a guide. Transfer round to a baking sheet and chill.
• Spread butter thickly on bottom and side of skillet and pour sugar evenly over bottom. Arrange as many apples as will fit vertically on sugar, packing them tightly in concentric circles. Apples will stick up above rim of skillet.
• Cook apples over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until juices are deep golden and bubbling, 18 to 25 minutes. (Don't worry if juices color unevenly.)
• Put skillet in middle of oven over a piece of foil to catch any drips. Bake 20 minutes (apples will settle slightly), then remove from oven and lay pastry round over apples.
• Bake tart until pastry is browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer skillet to a rack and cool at least 10 minutes.
• Just before serving, invert a platter with lip over skillet and, using potholders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, invert tart onto platter. Replace any apples that stick to skillet. (Don't worry if there are black spots; they won't affect the flavor of the tart.) Brush any excess caramel from skillet over apples. Serve immediately.