Tarte Tatin with Blitz Puff Pastry
A favorite, and deceptively easy to make. If you’re really pressed for time, use store-bought puff pastry or pie dough.
Serves 8
14 oz Blitz Puff Pastry dough, cold but not frozen
Apples
5 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1⁄4 c sugar, divided
6-8 medium apples, peeled, cored, and halved
For apples, add butter to a 10-inch diameter cast iron skillet. Reserve 2 tablespoons sugar, then sprinkle remaining sugar over butter. Place skillet over medium-low heat and cook until butter melts, sugar begins to dissolve and mixture starts to bubble, about 3 minutes. Arrange apples cut side down in the skillet, placing them tightly together. Cut remaining apple halves into quarters and fill in any gaps. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.
Set skillet over medium heat and simmer until thick peanut butter-color syrup forms. Reposition skillet often for even cooking, and simmer for 15 minutes. Then turn apples cut side up and fill any holes with remaining apple quarters as the halves shrink and space permits. Cook another 5-10 minutes, then remove from heat.
Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out pastry on a floured surface to 12-inch round; place over apples. Tuck pastry around apples at edge of skillet and press down lightly over apples in the center. Cut four 2-inch slits in the top of the pastry to vent steam.
Bake tart until pastry is a deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to the work surface; cool for 5 minutes. Cut around the edges of the skillet to loosen pastry. Place a large platter or serving plate over the skillet. Using oven mitts, hold the skillet and platter together tightly and invert, allowing tart to fall onto the platter. Carefully lift off the skillet. Rearrange any apples that may have become dislodged. Cool tart for 15 minutes.
Cut warm tart into wedges. Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or crème fraîche.
Recipe by Catherine Pla, adapted from seriouseats.com
Yields 2lbs 11oz puff pastry
Blitz Puff Pastry Dough
Create the tender, buttery layers of traditional puff pastry with less of the hassle!
20 oz (4 c) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
21⁄2 t kosher salt
10 oz (20 T) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
31⁄2 oz (7 T) unsalted butter, softened
1 c ice water
Freeze the butter cubes for about 20 minutes, until they’re semi-frozen.
Place flour, salt, 31⁄2 ounces of soft butter, and 3⁄4 cup of ice water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low until just combined. If dough seems extra dry and is not coming together at all, add 1-2 tablespoons more ice water. Remove bowl from mixer and add semi-frozen butter chunks. Use your hands to quickly incorporate cold butter into dough mixture but don’t look for uniformity or smoothness; you want to see the big chunks of butter in the dough. Work quickly so dough and butter remain cold. Place the mass on a sheet of plastic wrap and press it into a 8”x10” rectangle about an inch thick. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll into a 10”x20” rectangle. Square off the corners and edges as best you can. Make a four fold or book fold: with the long side of the rectangle towards you, mark off the centerline of the rectangle. Fold both short sides in towards the half. It will look like an open book. Now “close the book” by folding one side all the way over. Wrap dough and chill for 15 minutes.
Repeat four fold above. This is your second fold. Wrap dough and chill for 1 hour.
Repeat this process 2 more times, chilling the dough for an hour between folds 3 and 4.
Now your blitz puff pastry is ready to use. Or you can freeze it tightly wrapped until ready to use, up to 2 months.