Tarte Tatin: a Sologne recipe to cook up and enjoy!
Famous in France and around the world for its flavour and original recipe, Tarte Tatin is THE star of Sologne desserts! This tart with melting, caramelised apples is baked upside down and turned over before being eaten warm or hot. Discover, or rediscover, its history and try your hand at making this stunning delight!
The invention of the Tarte Tatin: quite a story!
A birth in Sologne
Tarte Tatin may be part of traditional French gastronomy, but it’s one of the proudest products of the Sologne region! And with good reason: it was born here! Its origins lie in Lamotte-Beuvron. According to the most widespread legend, it was in this town in the heart of the Sologne that it was created, following a blunder by one of the famous Tatin sisters.
Enter the legend!
Legend has it that the culinary event took place on the opening Sunday of the hunting season. A busy day at the restaurant. Caroline is busy in the dining room. In the kitchen, Stéphanie is preparing her favourite dessert. But in her haste, she forgets to put the pastry in the bottom of the tin. Realising her mistake, the cook improvised: she covered the caramelised apples with the pastry and put them in the oven. It is also said that, in her excitement, Stéphanie dropped the tart before putting it in the oven upside down…
Whether it was an oversight or a blunder, Stéphanie’s apple tart was not made according to the rules this time. But no matter: the dessert was presented to the day’s customers, who were delighted. The Tarte Tatin was born!
So much for the legend. In reality, the Tatin sisters are said to have made famous a traditional recipe for upside-down apple tart that is so dear to the hearts of the Solognots and Orléanais. But whatever the truth, the fame and success of the Tarte Tatin has never waned!
Two recipes for a homemade Tarte Tatin!
Want to try your hand at making a Tarte Tatin? There are lots of variations. Here are two of them.
Get cooking!
The © du Centre recipe
Ingredients :
– 1.5 kg golden or reine des reinettes apples
– 200 g butter
– 150 g sugar
– 200 g shortcrust pastry
Line the cake tin with the butter and sugar.
Add the apples in large wedges.
Cover with the shortcrust pastry.
Bake in the oven at 220°C for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove the Tarte Tatin from the oven and place over a high heat until reduced to dryness, turning the tin regularly. Leave to cool for 1 hour.
Put back on the heat, turning the tin constantly until the caramel appears at the bottom of the tin.
Unmould the Tarte Tatin when the caramel has turned amber-red.
Enjoy with a glass of late harvest Cour-Cheverny!
© du Centre information
The recipe published in 1921
This recipe was found in the notebook of Marie Souchon, a teacher from Lamotte-Beuvron, to whom Stéphanie Tatin is said to have shared her recipe. It was published in 1921 in the magazine ‘Blois et le Loir-et-Cher’. Here it is transcribed.
‘Use a copper dish, otherwise this delicious tart will never be a success.
To cook it, use a charcoal stove. Cover with hot coals.
Place your copper dish on top, with its lid also in copper, lined with embers. For success, you need an equal fire above and below.
Take some good pieces of butter and knead them vigorously.
Then line the bottom of the copper dish with it, and put a good layer of powdered or granulated sugar on top.
Cut some hard apples into pieces which should be carefully arranged in the dish, make as many layers as the dish will hold, cover the apples with a thick layer of granulated sugar.
You have also made a pastry with flour, butter and water.
Roll it out as thin as possible (1 millimetre); spread it over the apples, cut all the way round the dish, cover with the lid (of the oven) which must not touch the pastry.
Place on the heat as described above.
When you have finished cooking, take a dish and cover the tart with it, turning it upside down.
The top becomes the bottom.
Serve hot!
Time for a tasting!
Do you prefer to eat your Tarte Tatin in a restaurant? You’re spoilt for choice! There may be a few variations on the recipe and several versions of the story of its invention, but the tart is unanimously acclaimed on tables in France and around the world.
If you want to go back to the origins, head to Lamotte-Beuvron, to the Maison Tatin, in the very place where the famous dessert was created! At this hotel-restaurant you can order it at any time of day, or even take it away.
Another sign of the pride of the Solognots in having seen the birth of the Tarte Tatin is the existence of the Confrérie des Lichonneux de la Tarte Tatin de Lamotte-Beuvron. It works to defend and promote the consumption of the ‘real Tarte Tatin’. Don’t try adding whipped cream, Chantilly cream or vanilla ice cream to your tarte Tatin. According to these humorous gourmet experts, tarte Tatin should be eaten plain and unaccompanied!
Thematics
