Apple Tarte Tatin Recipe

This gorgeous, caramelized apple tarte tatin recipe will have you drooling for a bite from start to finish! The scent of sweet caramel cooking in a skillet and then buttery pastry baking in the oven is enough to make anyone a believer in this classic French dessert recipe. 

What is A Tatin in French?

If you’ve never heard of a tarte tatin, it’s basically an upside-down tart. What this means is that rather than lining a tart pan with pastry dough and filling it with whatever ingredients your tart calls for, you actually put the filling ingredients in a pan and top that with your pastry dough.

What is the difference between a tart and a tarte tatin?

A tarte tatin differs from a regular tart in its assembly and presentation. As previously mentioned, with a tarte tatin, you basically invert everything: the filling goes in the bottom of the pan and the pastry dough goes on top.

The idea is that when you finish baking the tart, you’ll flip the pan over and all will be right in the world; the baked crust will sit on the bottom and the filling ingredients will sit right on top, nicely as all normal desserts should. Ha!

While this apple tarte tatin recipe is very similar to the French apple tart recipe I’ve shared here on the site, the apples in a tarte tatin are caramelized first.

In the French apple tart recipe, the apples are sliced thin and coated in raw sugar before layered on the puff pastry.

Both recipes are incredibly delicious and worth trying, and both are very popular in France.

This apple tarte tatin does require a bit more work than the other apple tart, but if you saw my plum tatin cake, then you’ll completely understand why the French even bother with a tarte tatin recipe and what the advantage is here.

Basically, the fruit has a chance to caramelize by cooking in the warm sugar over medium heat on the stove, as well as while it’s baking in the oven since it rests on the bottom of the hot skillet.

This is something that the apples just can’t do without hot caramel in the recipe, which is something the other kind of apple tart (or apple pie, for that matter) doesn’t have. 

What is a tarte tatin made of?

A tarte tatin is most often made with apples, anything from the more tart Granny Smith to sweeter varieties like Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Golden Delicious.

It also typically has a rich caramel sauce base made with hot sugar, as well as pastry (puff pastry being the most common, though pie crust can also be used).

There are also variations made with pears, peaches, plums, tomatoes, or even onions for a savory twist.

What is the best pan for tarte tatin?

When you’re making a tarte tatin, it’s imperative that you use an oven-safe skillet. While you start the pan out over medium-high heat on the stove, it will eventually be transferred into an oven to finish the cooking process.

I typically use a 10-inch stainless steel skillet. Cuisinart is great for this, or if you can splurge, than something like this All-Clad one is fantastic. 

Quick Apple Tarte Tatin  Recipe

This classic apple tarte tatin is everything you want in a tarte tatin. The apples are tender and sweet with the taste of caramel, while the pastry crust is crisp, light, flaky, and filled with delicious butter flavor.

You can choose to make the crust with either pie dough or puff pastry. I typically use store-bought to keep this a relatively quick apple tarte tatin recipe.

Which type of crust you decide to use is dependent on what effect you’re trying to achieve. Puff pastry will give you an airier, lighter effect.

The downside is that puff pastry, well, puffs, and also tends to come in a square shape, making the end look a bit rough around the edges, as displayed here.

That said, I personally love the lighter texture of puff pastry and think a bit of rustic flair is worth it. I do know that Trader Joe’s often sells their puff pastry sheet in a circular shape, which is worth looking into if you want to avoid messing with the pastry too much.

Pie dough, on the other hand, comes in the perfect shape to go on top of a round skillet. While good pie dough is still pretty flaky and light, it’s not as light as puff pastry so you’re going to get a slightly more dense crust.

Either way, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy this apple tarte tatin. The flavor and juices of the sweet apples seep into the crust, giving it a lusciously caramelized taste that’s to-die-for!

Can I make tarte tatin the day before?

If you’re planning to make an apple tarte tatin a day in advance, I would choose to make the tart with pie dough. I find that pie dough lasts better than puff pastry (puff pastry really needs to be eaten same day). 

You can serve the tart on a platter after flipping it out of the pan, or if you’re enjoying a little later, store in a covered cake stand on the counter.

When you’re ready to eat, pop the tart onto a baking sheet and stick it in the oven on the warm setting so it has a chance to get deliciously warm again. 

Serve the tart warm with some vanilla ice cream and you’ve got some real dessert magic that will have you whisked off to a Paris bistro in no time!