Individual Tartes Tatin Recipes

Steps:

• To begin, peel, halve, and core your apples (melon ballers make a good tool for coring halved apples). You'll need one apple for every two tarts.
• In a medium sauce pan, about 3 quarts (1 liter), slowly heat sugar. You'll want to stir frequently until it dissolves into a brown syrup. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter into the sugar, stirring frequently. Add a dash of salt and the juice from ½ lemon.
• Lower the heat as low as it will go and add your apple halves. Toss to coat with caramel and let simmer 5-10 minutes until tender, flipping once.
• Cut puff pastry into circles to fit just within the top of your muffin tin.
• Place apple halves curve-side down in a large muffin tin. Pour remaining caramel over each apple half. Top with a circle of puff pastry to fit just inside the muffin tin.
• Bake 14-20 minutes at 450°F (230°C). Invert muffin pan onto baking sheet immediately. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Very generously butter six 5-inch round metal pie plates; set aside. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out puff pastry to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Using a cutter or a small plate as a guide, cut dough into 4 1/2-inch rounds. Prick rounds all over with a fork. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Lay two or three onion rounds on the bottom of each pie pan. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, slice potatoes into thin rounds, about a scant 1/4 inch thick. Place potato slices, slightly overlapping, over the onion in two layers of concentric circles (they should completely cover the onion). Sprinkle potatoes generously with salt and pepper. Place chilled puff pastry rounds on top of the potatoes in each pie plate. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Immediately invert tartlets onto a platter. In a small saucepan, combine balsamic vinegar and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook until mixture reduces to a syrup, about 4 minutes. Whisk in butter, a piece at a time, until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Glaze tartlets with balsamic syrup and serve warm.

Steps:

• At least one day before you plan to cook the tart, prepare the apples: Slice off the bottom of each apple so it has a flat base. Peel and quarter the apples. Use a small sharp knife to trim the hard cores and seeds from the center of each quarter; don't worry about being too neat. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate, lightly covered, for at least one day or up to three days. (This key step reduces the amount of liquid in the tart. Don't worry if the apples turn brown; they will be browned during the cooking anyway.)
• When ready to cook, heat oven to 375 degrees (or 350 if using convection). Thickly coat the bottom of a 10-inch heavy ovenproof skillet, preferably nonstick metal, with butter. Sprinkle sugar evenly on top.
• Cut one piece of apple into a thick round disk and place in the center of the skillet to serve as the "button." Arrange the remaining apple pieces, each one standing on its flat end, in concentric circles around the button. Keep the pieces close together so that they support one another, standing upright. They will look like the petals of a flower.
• On a floured surface, roll out the puff pastry about 1/8-inch thick. Place an upside-down bowl or pan on the pastry and use the tip of a sharp knife to cut out a circle about the same size as the top of your skillet. Lift out the circle and drape gently over the apples. Use your hands to tuck the pastry around the apple pieces, hugging them together firmly.
• Place the skillet on the stovetop over medium heat until golden-brown juice begins to bubble around the edges, 3 minutes (if the juices keep rising, spoon out as needed to remain level with pastry). If necessary, raise the heat so that the juices are at a boil. Keep cooking until the juices are turning darker brown and smell caramelized, no longer than 10 minutes more.
• Transfer skillet to the oven and bake 45 to 50 minutes, until puff pastry is browned and firm.
• Let cool 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a round serving plate. (Or, if not serving immediately, let cool completely in the pan; when ready to serve, rewarm for 15 minutes in a 350-degree oven before turning out.) If any apples remain stuck in the pan, gently use your fingers or a spatula to retrieve them, and rearrange on the pastry shell. Cut in wedges and serve warm with heavy cream, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a saucepan until it bubbles. Add the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the vanilla bean and cinnamon stick and stir to combine, pressing on the vanilla bean to bring out the vanilla seeds inside. Continue simmering until caramel in color, about 5 minutes. The mixture might not look smooth and blended at this point.
• Stir in the brandy, lemon juice and orange zest and continue cooking until smooth, about 5 minutes more. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F and arrange the ramekins on a cookie sheet. Pour 2 tablespoons of caramel into the bottom of each ramekin. Arrange 1 peach half in each ramekin. Pour a little more caramel over the peaches and bake until the caramel is bubbling and the peaches are almost tender, 15 to 20 minutes. (The recipe can be made up to this point, cooled to room temperature, and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)
• Meanwhile, use a cutter or sharp knife, cut the puff pastry into 12 rounds, slightly larger than the diameter of your ramekins (they will shrink during the baking). Remove the ramekins from the oven and turn it up to 425 degrees F. Top each ramekin with a round of puff pastry and bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Let cool at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours. When ready to serve, re-warm the tarts slightly to loosen the caramel by placing them in a shallow pan of very hot water, or on a flame tamer on your stovetop, set over medium heat. Unmold upside down onto small plates and serve, with the peaches up and the pastry on the bottom.

Steps:

• Cut butter into little chunks and keep cold to work into pastry. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add butter and work into the flour until coarsely distributed. Whisk in egg, water, and vanilla; work together with 2 forks until it just barely holds together. Use a piece of plastic wrap to ball up the dough and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes.
• While the dough is refrigerating, make the filling:
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Melt the butter and sugar together in a 12-inch nonstick oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apple slices and stir to coat with melted butter mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon and cook until apples have softened slightly and take on some color, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Smooth the apples out into an even layer in the pan.
• Roll out the refrigerated dough on a floured countertop into a 13-inch disk and lay over the top of the apples, trimming any excess. Prick with a fork in several places to let steam release. Brush the egg all over the top of the dough and bake for 40 minutes or until golden browned.
• Allow to cool nearly fully before inverting onto a serving platter. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Steps:

• Place 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add sugar and corn syrup, increase heat to high, and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture caramelizes into a deep amber brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Once it starts turning brown, swirl often and keep a close eye on it.
• Remove from the heat, and whisk in butter until melted and smooth. Divide among six 4-to 6-ounce ramekins, or among the cups of a nonstick 6-muffin tin.
• Cut the apples in half from top to bottom. Use a melon baller or the tip of a knife to core the apple halves. Trim off any remaining peels and stems, and cut around the edges so each apple half is about the same diameter as each ramekin. Place the apple halves face down on a work surface, then slice into 1/2-inch-thick pieces, keeping the slices together so the shape of the apple half stays intact. Tuck each apple half into a ramekin or cup, with the flat side facing up and the curved back nestling into the caramel.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out or unfold the pastry and prick all over with a fork. Using a biscuit cutter or a knife, cut out six pastry rounds that are slightly larger than the ramekins (about 1/2 inch of dough all the way around). Keep pastry rounds chilled until ready to use.
• Place the pastry rounds on top of the ramekins or cups. Working your way around, use forefingers and thumbs to turn the pastry edges up and away from the apples, as if making a little round stand for each tart. Crimp the edges a bit. Tuck the pastry rounds slightly down into the ramekins; do not seal. Place the ramekins or muffin tin on a baking sheet lined with a nonstick liner or parchment paper.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until the puff pastry is golden brown, the apples are fork-tender but not mushy, and the caramel is thick and bubbling, about 10 minutes more depending on the apples. To test, after 10 minutes, remove from the oven and slip a fork into one tart. The apples should be cooked through. Let cool in the ramekins or cups for at least 1 hour, to allow the apples to absorb the caramel.
• When ready to serve, heat oven to 350 degrees. Reheat the tarts for 3 minutes (to soften the caramel) before inverting onto individual dishes. If using a muffin tin, cover the tin with a baking sheet and use both hands to flip the pans over, so the tarts fall out onto the baking sheet. Don't worry if some of the caramel runs out.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Peel apple, halve lengthwise, and core. Using a 1-cup ramekin (3 1/4 inches across and 2 1/4 inches deep) as a guide, cut out 2 rounds from pastry sheet.
• In a 7-inch heavy skillet heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and stir in brown sugar and water. Add apple halves and cook, turning frequently, 3 minutes. In two 1-cup ramekins set on a baking sheet arrange apple halves, cored sides up, and top evenly with sauce.
• Top apples with pastry rounds, letting edges of pastry hang over sides of apples. Bake tarts in middle of oven for 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown, and cool on a rack 5 minutes. Working with 1 ramekin at a time, invert a plate over each ramekin and invert ramekin onto plate. Carefully lift off ramekins.
• Serve tarts with ice cream.

Steps:

• Roll the pastry to a 3mm-thick round on a lightly floured surface and cut a 24cm circle, using a plate as a guide. Lightly prick all over with a fork, place on a baking sheet, then cover and freeze while preparing the apples.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Peel, quarter and core the apples. Put the sugar in a flameproof 20cm ceramic tatin dish or a 20cm ovenproof heavy-based frying pan and place over a medium-high heat. Cook the sugar for 5-7 mins to a dark amber caramel syrup that's starting to smoke, then turn off the heat and stir in the 60g diced chilled butter.
• To assemble the tarte tatin, arrange the apple quarters very tightly in a circle around the edge of the dish first, rounded-side down, then fill in the middle in a similar fashion. Gently press with your hands to ensure there are no gaps. Brush the fruit with the melted butter.
• Bake in the oven for 30 mins, then remove and place the disc of frozen puff pastry on top - it will quickly defrost. Tuck the edges down the inside of the dish and, with a knife, prick a few holes in the pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake for a further 40-45 mins until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
• Allow to cool to room temperature for 1 hr before running a knife around the edge of the dish and inverting it onto a large serving plate that is deep enough to contain the juices. Serve with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Have ready six 4-inch fluted tartlet pans with nonremovable bottoms.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough to slightly less than 1/8 inch thick. Cut out six 4 1/2-inch-round circles. Transfer the circles to prepared baking sheet. Cover with plastic; transfer to refrigerator to chill.
• Place the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Place pan over medium-high heat, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil, and cook, uncovered, without stirring. As the water evaporates, the sugar will begin to caramelize. Once the sugar starts to brown, swirl the pan occasionally so the sugar caramelizes evenly. Reduce heat to medium. Cook until caramel is light brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Working quickly, divide caramel among tart pans, covering the bottoms evenly. Set the tart pans aside.
• Arrange the fruit, cut sides up or down, on top of caramel in pans, covering bottoms.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and 1 teaspoon water. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Center the rounds over the fruit in the pans, laying the dough flat and not tucking it in. Using a knife, make a knife slit in each piece of dough. Brush rounds with egg wash. Transfer pans to refrigerator; chill 15 minutes.
• Arrange the tart pans on baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between. Bake until the crusts are golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack until pans are cool enough to handle.
• Using your fingers, gently unstick crusts from rims as needed. Turn out each tart onto a plate, tapping to loosen any fruit. Serve tarts warm or at room temperature.