There are many recipes for dishes that appeared "by chance" or "by mistake of the cook." These include tart taten with apples. This delicious French pastry is not only pleasant to eat. The history of its occurrence is also very exciting. We will also talk about how, through a happy oversight of the cook, a new type of charlotte appeared. But now we are encouraging you to follow our example and make yourself a delicious French dessert. Stop! Now it will not be entirely correct to call it that, since over a hundred years of its existence, tart has grown with numerous variations. Today it is cooked with onions and ham, tomatoes, eggplant and other vegetables. And also fruits - pears, peaches, plums.
The story of the Taten sisters
At a distance of one hundred leagues from Paris there is the small town of Lamot-Beuvron. No one remembers exactly when the Taten family opened a guest yard in its suburb of Solon, where they could get not only an overnight stay, but also eat from the road. However, it is known for certain that in 1888 two sisters managed this motel. Carolina Taten was in charge of the guest rooms, and her sister Stephanie was in charge of the restaurant. The famous tart appeared a decade later, in 1898, in the midst of the hunting season. The restaurant was full of visitors, and out of breath, Stephanie in a hurry forgot to put dough baking dishes on the bottom. Apples in the oven are well caramelized. Realizing her mistake, Stephanie covered the fruit with dough, sent the cake for a cut, and later turned it over. The restaurant visitors liked the unconventional cake-changer so much that the cook deliberately decided to repeat the oversight. The culinary masterpiece received the name of its author. The fame of him crossed the state borders, and we know him under the name of the French pie "Tarte Tatin" (tarte Tatin).
"The only attraction" Lamot-Bevron
Stephanie’s invention was not a local secret for long. The hotel served travelers traveling to the capital and back, which is why many tourists tasted and appreciated the apple “pie on the contrary” - tart Taten. Soon he was heard about by the Parisian restaurateur Louis Vodable. He was eager to get a tart recipe at all costs. But Stephanie Taten was adamant. Then he set off on a trick. The chef of the restaurant "Maxim", owned by Vodabl, joined the Taten girls in gardeners. He watched Stephanie make his famous cake and later play it in his own kitchen. On the Maxima menu, tart taten pie with apples is still present. But the glory of the town of Lamot-Bevron did not fade from this, but only grew more. The gourmets of the capital were not afraid to go a long way to enjoy the tarte des demoiselles Tatin - “the pie of the two young ladies of Taten”. Now in a restored building hosted by members of the Brotherhood of admirers of this masterpiece. Until now, a wood-burning stove with blue tile trim, in which the first copy of tarte was baked, has been demonstrated to visitors as a museum exhibit. To attract tourists, local chefs perform real miracles. Thus appeared the largest tart in the history of Taten with apples, the diameter of which was two and a half meters. How the chefs turned this creation over remains a mystery.
Ingredients for tart
This apple pie in its classic design is baked with an unusual dough. It seems to be flaky, although making it is much easier. But the main highlight of the dessert was not the airy and light dough, but the filling. Therefore, the main attention should be paid to caramel and apples. The first is very capricious, it can burn out within a second. Apple is even worse. You never know exactly how they will behave in the furnace. They will give too much juice - he will wet the dough, the dessert will look like porridge. Too dry will not work either. Sour? Oh no! If you want to bake a classic tart with apples, the recipe tells you to take Ranet apples. But many chefs have nothing against other varieties. The main thing is that they are with thick flesh and sweet. “Gala Royal”, “Golden” and even our “Antonovka” will do. As for caramel, for its manufacture it is necessary to take real butter, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
Tart Taten: Puff Pastry
Peeled apples are known to quickly blacken in the air. Therefore, we begin to prepare our pie with a batch of dough. The classic recipe assumes an exclusively flaky base and no other. Of course, apples with biscuit are also very tasty. And using a ready-made puff pastry will be quite simple. But it will be a slightly different dish, and not the famous French tarte Taten. For the test we need 150 grams of butter. It should be very cold, so you need to put the indicated amount for a couple of minutes in the freezer. We sift two hundred and fifty grams of flour onto a table through a sieve. Add a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt there, mix. We take out the oil and quickly, until it is heated, cut into small cubes. We begin to mix it with flour with our fingers. It should turn out a mass of small crumbs. Add the egg yolk and one or two tablespoons of ice water. Knead the dough until smooth. Roll up the bun, wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour. But, honestly, dessert will not lose anything if you use a layer of ready-made puff pastry.
Making caramel
In order to bake Taten apple tart, you need to have a frying pan that can be put in the oven. It is also desirable that it be non-stick. Caramel should be slightly bitter, so it is important not to miss the moment. We take about a kilogram of apples. For the aesthetic appearance of the cake, it is desirable that they be the same size. We clean the apples, remove the core and cut into slices. To prevent the flesh from darkening, sprinkle the fruit with lemon juice. We put a dry frying pan on a strong fire. Pour five tablespoons of sugar. When it blooms and starts to bubble, add 120 grams of butter, vanilla and cinnamon (a quarter of a teaspoon). Stir thoroughly so that the caramel does not burn. Remove from the stove when the mass becomes pale brown, and in the air smells of burnt sugar. To stop the heat treatment, culinary experts advise putting the pan on a towel moistened with cold water.
Another caramel recipe
You can do it easier. First melt the butter and add the indicated amount of sugar, cinnamon and vanillin. This will save your pan from possible burning of caramel. Cook, stirring, for about five minutes over medium heat, until the mixture becomes a pleasant golden brown color. There is also a very simple recipe where caramelization takes place already in the oven. We take a baking dish, thickly spread it with butter, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, spread apples, cover with a layer of dough. We send the pan to the oven, and turn the finished product over. But it will no longer be tart taten with apples. The recipe for a classic dish does not allow any deviations from the canon: caramelization of apples should take place on the stove.
Laying pie
Go to the next step. Now we have a difficult process of caramelization of apples. Remove the frying pan from the heat and spread the slices of fruit in a circle, so that they create the appearance of “scales”. Again, put the pan on a small fire, and sprinkle apples with a small amount of sugar and cinnamon. Fruits should start juice, which will slightly dilute the caramel. The liquid should cover the apples so that they are soaked in syrup. So we cook, naturally, without stirring, so as not to disturb the drawing, from a quarter of an hour. Turn off the heat on the stove and light the oven. Apple tart Taten will be baked at a temperature of 220 degrees.
Cooking Changeling Pie
When the fruits in the caramel have cooled slightly, sprinkle the work surface with flour and roll out the dough. It should not turn out very much. We give the layer a slightly larger size than the baking dish. Cover apples with dough. We stick the protruding edges inward. We make several punctures with a fork so that the dough in the oven does not bubble. Bake tart taten with apples for about forty minutes. Turn the cake hot on a plate.
Innings
Serve the changeling also with taste. The classics of the genre prescribe to taste it hot accompanied by cider or light red wine. In no case should you heat the tart taten with apples in the microwave - this will adversely affect the taste. It’s better to just put in the oven for ten minutes on low heat. Or follow the example of the French. Pour 125 milliliters of calvados into a small jug, heat it slightly over the fire, then set fire and pour the pie on it. The Taten sisters served their tart with warm sweet sour cream. Parisian restaurants have moved away from this provincial fashion. Often you can find tarte framed by whipped cream or even, following the example of Vienna apple strudel, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sometimes it is flamed not with calvados, but with other strong alcohol. But how to serve the famous tart and how to drink it is up to you.