Brotherly Games: Tarte Tatin

My friend Valentin is writing Brotherly Games, including descriptions of the fantastic French cuisine. As an added bonus, here is the first recipe you can make on your own in order to get more into the feel of the story. You can follow Valentin here.

From Chapter 2, made by Henri's mother for lunch:

Tarte Tatin

Ingredients for four persons; 

• 10 Table Apples. 

• 100 grams of Sugar.

• 100 grams of salted butter. 

• 1 round puff pastry for pie. 

1st step: 

Peel the apples and take out their seeds. Cut the apples in half and slice 2 centimetre wide lamela with the apple. 

2nd step:

Take a pie plate and use it as a frying pan. The pie plate should be in metal, make sure it is suitable for the fire or the cooking plates. 

In the pie plate, put 100 grams of Sugar and 100 grams of butter. If the butter isn't salted, add a pinch of salt. 

Cook the butter and sugar and make it caramelize.

3rd step:

When the caramel is brown, add the sliced apples. Let the apple cook on medium heat, 5 minutes on each side should be enough. Cook the apples on both sides. 

4th step:

Once the apples are cooked, take the pie plate out of the fire and let everything cool. Wait for roughly ten minutes. 

Dispose the apples equitably on the pie plate. Then cover the apples and the pie plate with a puff pastry. 

5th step:

Put the pie plate in the oven and cook the pie for 35 to 40 minutes at 180 degree Celsius heat. Reminder : the puff pastry is on top, and not on the bottom of the pie plate. 

6th step:

When the pie is cooked, take it out of the oven. 

Place a second pie plate on top of the already used pie plate. The two pie plates should be of equal proportions. 

Seal the second pie plate on top of the first and in a swift motion turn the apple pie upside down so that the puff pastry is on the bottom and the apples on top. 

This is a delicate step, be careful to seal the two pie plates properly or you might make a mess. 

When the apple pie is successfully in the second pie plate, apples on top and puff pastry on the bottom, it is ready to be served. 

You may serve it with vanilla ice cream. 

Bon appétit!