Peach Tarte Tatin!

The delicate scent of peaches and their vibrant flavor are a quintessential summer experience. When in season I can't have enough fresh peaches, but I love the freshness and depth of flavor they impart to desserts. As the peach season is coming to an end, I wanted to use one of my favorite fruits in an easy yet delicious recipe!
This recipe started building up in my head a while ago, but at first I had a different idea than what I eventually did. I am pleased that I changed my mind!

As my recipe is a tarte, I had to think first of the crust. I thought about using my usual go-to galette recipe but then I read somewhere that cream cheese added to the galette dough makes it more delicious and flaky. I did just that and was quite pleased with the result.
I was planning on using a different stone fruit, but I ended up using peaches.
I had also bought beautiful thyme and lavender plants, so I wanted to experiment with these 2 flavors.

The technique I used for assembling the tarte is different from the method I usually use. I adopted the technique of a famous French chef called Christophe Michalak. I watched him make a classic apple tarte tatin but instead of placing the uncooked apples in the pan directly, he cooked them before with some butter, which made it much easier to assemble the fruits and pack them tightly so they won't shrink after cooking. His technique is really worth the extra effort as you get a much nicer tarte once flipped.

And now let's start with the crust!

For the crust you need:

• 400 g pastry flour
• 200 g cold butter and cut into small cubes
• 40 g cold cream cheese
• 20 g sugar
• 4 to 6 tbsp of ice water (or as needed)

The amount used here is for 2x 18 cm tart, I used half and froze the rest!

To get a flaky and delicious crust you need to work with  ingredients that are really cold. I start by mixing the dry ingredients in the food processor and place the container in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can omit this step, I have done so in the past and have gotten very good results, but it is worth the time investment as the dough will be even more crumbly and flaky when all ingredients are cold. 

Take out the ingredients from the freezer, add the butter and the cream cheese to the flour mix and pulse for about 30 sec to one min maximum. Then add the icy cold water, one tbsp at a time. This is where you need to be careful not to add too much water and not to overwork your dough. Once the dough just barely comes together stop mixing. It is acceptable if the dough does not come together in a single ball, that's not the aim.

Now, line a clean working surface with cling film (or aluminum foil if you prefer), remove the dough from the food processor onto the cling film. Work the dough slightly with your hands so it comes together and shape it into a disk. Cover it with the cling film and place it in the fridge for at least an hour. It is better if you prepare the dough one day ahead, which is what I usually do.

The amount of water that you will add depends on the quality of the flour and the water contained in the butter. Don't be tempted to put more water as the dough might seem dry at first, but when it rests in the fridge, it comes together nicely as the butter is absorbed  by the flour.

For the filling:

• 500 g peach, cut into wedges
• 50 g of butter
• 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
• 1/2 tsp of dried lavender flowers

Combine all the ingredients into a pot and cover it with cold water. Bring it to a gentle simmer, for about 10 min or till the fruits are slightly tender. Make sure not to over cook the peaches. 

Drain and let it them cool.

For the caramel

• 120 g of sugar
• 30 g butter

In a small pot, put the sugar and on a gentle heat turn the sugar into a amber caramel, turn off the heat, add the butter, swirl well then cover the bottom of an 18 cm pan with the caramel. 

Once the caramel cools down it hardens so don't worry about that. Now arrange the peaches in the pan.

Roll the dough into an 20 cm disk, cover the pan, and slightly tuck the edges inside to seal the crust with the pan.

Bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 25-30 min or until the top has turned into a slightly golden brown color.

Take the pan out of the oven, and leave to cool for about 5 min.

Make sure to flip the Tarte Tatin over a big dish, leaving space for the caramel.

Place the dish over the pan, put a kitchen towel on top, and with a quick and secure movement flip it.
The caramel is very liquid at this stage so the tarte will come off easily.
The dough will soak the luscious and fruity caramel; add to that a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy a dreamy and decadent dessert!

Bon appetit!

Tarte Tatin

Throughout history, humans gave a symbolic status to many natural elements and food items surrounding them. So what was the symbol of eternal youth in pagan Germany, the symbol of beauty in Mesopotamia, and a source of immorality in the garden of Hesperides? More importantly, what's the fruit that lured humanity into sin according to popular misinterpretation of the Bible? Yup, you guessed it, it's the humble Apple.

Apples are widely popular and incredibly versatile ingredients that go well in many savory and sweet recipes. Apples are the star ingredient of one of the most famous and delicious French recipes of all times: Tarte Tatin.

The Tatin sisters who worked at the Hotel Tatin in the village of Lamotte-Beuvron in France's Loire Valley, entered history through a random series of events. Stephanie Tatin was the hotel's cook, while her sister Caroline was the hostess. They successfully managed the hotel  located in the Loire Valley, a region many call the garden of France due to its abundance of fruits, vegetables and vineyards.

So how the Tarte Tatin came to be? In 1889, at the peak of the hunting season, the hotel was overwhelmed with hungry guests. While Caroline was taking care of the guests, Stephanie was running frantically in the kitchen from one stove to another preparing food. As she was preparing the traditional and well known apple pie, she forgot the pan of apples on the stove. The smell of caramelizing apples caught her attention. Fearing the apples might burn and in an attempt to save them, she put the pie crust on top of the apples and put the pan in the oven to cook it. Stephanie admired the result and so did the guests. And there you have it, out of a mere coincidence a sublime dessert was born. 

The original recipe has only few ingredients, apples (reines de reinettes or king of the pippins variety), sugar, butter and pie crust. However, throughout the years some variations were made such as adding spices or using puff pastry.

Organic reines de reinettes apples rich with their natural flavor are not easy to get hold of, so I always add spices to my apples to enhance the flavor. Many spices can be added, but cinnamon and apples are a marriage made in heaven.

You can use either a traditional pie crust or puff pastry for this recipe. I honestly prefer using puff pastry, it's lighter, richer and just adds a magical touch to this dessert. 

In order to make this delicous tarte tatin you will need:

• 6 granny smith apples
• 100 g brown sugar (demerara preferably)
• 35 g butter
• 30 g maple syrup
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• pinch of fresh ground star anis and cloves

You can substitute the spices with vanilla and if you are a purist you can omit the addition of spices and vanilla altogether.

Follow these steps and you will surely make an excellent dessert.
Peel and core the apples, put them in a bowl full of water and the juice a a lemon. The lemon will stop the browning of the apples.

On a low heat and in an oven proof pan combine sugar, butter, maple syrup, salt and the spices. Let the sugar melt slowly and do not stir it, just move the pan gently to avoid that the sugar burns.

When the caramel is ready, line the apples in the pan keeping in mind that they will shrink after cooking. You can either line them in a pretty fashion or keep free form, whatever you prefer.

Let the apples cook for a while, turn them, and when you see that the caramel is bubbling, you can turn off the heat and let them cool for few minutes.

While the apples are cooling, prepare your puff pastry. Cut a sheet a few centimetres bigger than the pan you're using. Cover the apples with the dough, make few holes in the pastry so you won´t have steam condensation and cook in a preheated oven (200C) until golden brown which usually takes 20 to 30 minutes.

You can make your own puff pastry ( I will share the recipe in an upcoming post) or you can use a store bought one. Please make sure to use a brand that you trust and that actually uses butter to make the pastry, otherwise the taste won't be there. 

Leave it to cool for 5 minutes, place the serving dish over the pan, cover it with aluminium foil, then with some towels and turn it over, be careful not to spill any of the hot caramel!

The smell at this point overwhelms the senses. You know in advance that the caramelized apples along with the puff pastry soaked in this luscious caramel will be just heavenly.  

Serve warm with a sccop of ice cream, and listen to Piaff singing La vie en rose!! Indulge!