The recipe calls for the apples to be halved, but quartering them works well, too. It just depends on what will fit best in your pan and the final presentation you prefer. Also, you can use ready-made pie crust dough instead of the puff pastry. You’ll just need to lower the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for 40-45 minutes. Finally, I like to serve this tart with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream.
Yield: 1 10-inch tart; 6-8 servings
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (4 ounces) sugar
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter
4 medium-size Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved, and cored
1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
Cinnamon Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. On a floured board, roll out the puff pastry to 1/8-inch thick, approximately an 11-inch square. Then, using a 10-inch sauté pan as a template, cut the puff pastry into a 10-inch circle, discarding the scraps. Set aside.
3. Place the sugar and butter in the sauté pan, and melt the butter over medium heat, stirring to incorporate the sugar. Once the butter is melted, arrange the apples in the pan and continue to cook over medium heat until the butter-sugar mixture is caramelized to a golden brown color. Then, turn off the heat.
4. Place the puff pastry round on top of the apples and tuck the edges into the pan.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the tart cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
6. While the tart is cooling, make the whipped cream. Put the cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Start whipping the cream on a lower speed and slowly add the sugar and cinnamon. Then, increase the mixer speed and whip until soft peaks form when you lift the whip or beater from the cream.
7. To serve the tart, place the serving side of a plate or platter on top of the pan and then turn over the pan so that the pastry forms the crust on the bottom and the apples are on top. (Don’t plate the tart too long before you plan to serve it or the crust will get soggy from the caramel.) Cut the tart into wedges and serve with whipped cream.
Note: If your tart has cooled too much, you may want to run the bottom of the pan over low heat to loosen up the caramel. This will help keep your tart from sticking to the pan and allow it to release more easily.
