Don’t wait too long before inverting this vanilla bean tarte tatin recipe; the caramel will stick if it gets cold. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Ingredients
8 Servings
5
½
½
2
1
⅛
1
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°. Cut apples as close to core as possible into three lobes; set aside. Scatter half of sugar in a heavy 9” skillet and scrape in vanilla seeds; discard pod. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is melted and starting to caramelize, 6–8 minutes (if using a cast-iron skillet, test the color of the caramel by spooning some onto a white plate. It should be pale amber). Add remaining sugar and cook until all sugar is dissolved and has taken on a deep amber color.
Step 2
Stir in butter, vinegar, and salt. Place apples cut side down in skillet and cook until they start giving up some of their juices and shrink slightly, 5–8 minutes. Carefully turn apples over and scoot them together so they overlap slightly. (The apples will shrink more as they bake, so they need to be tightly packed from the beginning.) Remove from heat.
Step 3
Gently roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface just to smooth out creases; cut into a round that will fit snugly and flush inside skillet. Drape puff pastry over apples and transfer skillet to oven.
Step 4
Bake until pastry is puffed and starting to brown in spots, 20–25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake until apples are tender and pastry is golden brown and cooked all the way through, 20–25 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes before inverting onto a platter.
Nutrition Per Serving
Leave a Review
Reviews (40)
Back to TopThe time for cooking the sugar in my area of the world was to long and the Carmel burned just a bit. I cooked on medium low and it still did. A candy thermometer temperature may make this recipe more friendly for other elevations. That said the apples were perfect at this time.
Terra
Arizona
5/5/2023
Great filling recipe and apple to caramel ratio. Based on another recipe, I pre-cooked the apples a little longer in a nonstick 12” skillet. This makes it easier to manuever the full pan of apples. Then using tongs transferred the apples to a buttered 9” cake pan, overlapping slightly. I found that cutting apples in 3rds created the perfect lip to overlap them. I then reduced the apple caramel juice a little more in the skillet and poured on top. This helps produce in a less runny final result when inverted.
JimC
Austin
2/13/2022
Wow, this was amazing. One of the best deserts I have ever eaten. The sweetness of the caramel is mellowed by the juice from the apples and that extra zing from the apple cider vinegar seals the deal. I cooked mine in a 10 inch cast iron pan (had to remember that old Pi-R-Squared formula to increase the caramel by 25%). Perhaps it was the pan I used but the puff pastry cooked up very fast, only 20 minutes. I was able to keep it in the oven another 10 minutes or so at a much lower setting in order to get the apples cooked through. On that note, I am glad I used small apples as they did cook quickly. Served within a couple of hours of coming out of the oven, the pastry was still a lovely crispyness. We had it with a small scoop of Hagen Daz Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. I would make this exactly the same and I know I will do so many times in the future. The only thought is that it might be cute to do individual servings using mini cast iron pans. The only question I have for anyone who reads this is whether they think you could put the whole thing together and let it sit for a couple of hours, then pop it into the oven just as you're sitting down to the first course.
Anonymous
So. California
1/2/2020
This is a great, simple, straightforward recipe. Very pleased with how it turned out. I struggled to fit the apples close together as in the picture so will have to give that another go next time I make it.
julietaluc
London, UK
11/24/2019