Great Tarte Tatin with the Equipment on Hand

Before this weekend, I had never tried to make one of my favorite French desserts, a tarte Tatin. And all of this deprivation was for lack of a kitchen utensil: I have never owned a "moule à Tatin," which seemed to be an essential piece of equipment for making this dish. I finally decided, though, to try one out with "les moyens de bord" -- or what I had on hand.

A tarte Tatin is basically an upside-down pie. Recipes abound. As usual, I used a combination of a few different versions from various cookbooks.

But rather than using the magical moule à tatin, which allows you to prepare your caramel, sauté your apples, and bake your tart all in the same dish, I just used a quiche pan. I sautéed my apples first in a skillet with a generous amount of butter, then placed them, without draining any excess butter, in a quiche pan in which I had sprinkled about three tablespoons of sugar (above.)

Then I covered the fruit mixture with a pâte brisée, or short pastry. I've noticed in the recipes that many of them call for pâte feuilletée, or puff pastry, and the difference is probably a great subject of debate in some circles.

I poked the crust a few times with a fork to let the steam out...so far, so good...

...and about a half hour later, the tarte came out of the oven looking like this. So far, so good...

The moment of truth: turning the tart over on a plate and seeing if everything would come out resembling a "real" tarte Tatin. (The suspense thickens....)

Et oui! I did end up with something which looked and tasted, roughly, like a tarte Tatin. The caramel was not quite dark enough, so I think I could have added five minutes baking time at a high temperature at the end or beginning -- or maybe I need a moule à Tatin for that.

No one in my family complained!

So if you want to try your hand at making this traditional French tart, don't be discouraged by the lack of equipment. A skillet and a well-greased pie or quiche pan can certainly do the trick.