Tarte Tatin Recipe (With Puff Pastry)

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1. 1Step 1: In a heavy bottomed saucepan, stir the water and sugar together until slightly dissolved (off the heat). Then, over a medium heat, leave the sugar alone to bubble and simmer until a light golden brown caramel forms (no need to stir at all until the caramel turns colour). This will take about 10 minutes. Stir in the butter (and salt if using) and splash of Calvados (if using) until the caramel is smooth and immediately pour into the cake tin.
2. 2Step 2: Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F (170°C fan/gas 5). Peel the apples, cut them in half, remove the cores with a sharp knife (or use an apple corer) and cut them again horizontally.
3. 3Step 3: Arrange the apples upright in a circle and pack them as tight as you can (they’ll shrink while cooking), filling as much space as possible in the middle. Cut up any leftover apple and stuff them into the spaces. Top evenly with the extra butter cut into small bits (or brush with melted butter) and lightly sprinkle over the extra 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
4. 4Step 4: Remove the caramelised apples from the oven to cool slightly as you prepare the pastry.
5. 5Step 5: Ideally your puff is ready rolled so there’s no need to do anything. (If the puff pastry is in a block, roll it out to about 2mm thickness and cut out a 10-inch circle - that's slightly larger (2-3cm) than the size of the pan you’re using. Place the puff pastry sheet on top of the apples, tuck in the sides as far down the edges as you can, as it will neatly hold the apples when turned over at the end. Pierce a few small holes in the pastry to allow any steam to escape – this will prevent the puff pastry from puffing up too much while baking.
6. 6Step 6: Bake in the oven for a further 25-30 minutes (another 5 minutes if you like your apples darker), or until the pastry is golden brown and the apple juices bubble around the edges.
7. 7Step 7: Leave to cool for about an hour then run a knife along the edges just to help release the sticky beauty. To turn over the tart, cover the pan with a large deep plate (to catch any juices). Hold the pan and plate together and flip upside down quickly, pastry side down.