Skillet Apple Tarte Tatin
This skillet apple tarte tatin is the most perfect mash up of elegance and rustic – if there is such a thing. An upside down apple tart with flaky crust and caramel stewed apples will have you BEGGING for more! And it’s so much easier than a traditional apple pie!
Dish Count :: 1 Cutting Board, 1 Skillet, 1 Serving Plate
It was a fairly uneventful holiday weekend if you ask me! And really, that is becoming more and more okay with the list of things we have to do rapidly expanding. The urge to unpack is feigning, when all I want to do is nap twice a day (which really happened).
So if given the choice of to-do list or napping and baking – let’s take a guess at which I would rather do? I guess based on this dessert it’s not hard to figure out.Â
Today starts the next week of Chip’s progress in utero and he’s definitely become a big mover and shaker. It probably has something to do with the THREE apple desserts I made this weekend. Don’t worry, you’ll get them all, too. His palate has definitely changed as we have progressed – starting from a salty food lover (hello chips and fries!) to totally digging the sweet stuff (basically anything I can get my hands on).
Clearly me and gestational diabetes are going to be BFF’s. In two weeks I have my test, so send prayers to the Wilford Brimmley’s of the skies that I don’t have it. I don’t need that judgemental old walrus haunting me with the whispering sounds of “Diabeetus” at every turn.
At over two pounds, and the size of a butternut squash, or in this week’s case an apple tarte tatin this little dude is starting to get big. As am I. My pregnancy app also compared him to a prairie dog? Like, how the hell do they come up with these comparisons? Not to mention that I feel like a butternut squash and/or prairie dog is pretty dang subjective! Those things can be HUGE or very tiny.
And I don’t need that complex going through my head. 
But more about the dessert! I remember first hearing about a tarte tatin when I was watching Pan-Am back on ABC. Did anyone else watch that show? Just me? I was so bummed when it got cancelled! Dean and the French flight attendant were finally together and he took her to meet his folks – they hated her because she was French and Jewish (Lame!) and he was so excited to tell them about her baking a tarte tatin! At that point I had to find out what it was. Until now I didn’t have an excuse to make one – but I’m glad I finally did.
It is so easy! And since I just had to make it in my skillet, it was more the better! So enjoy this quite possibly simplified version of a French classic. But if it makes more cast iron baking, and apple desserts – just embrace it and enjoy!
Ingredients for Skillet Apple Tarte Tatin
- Granny Smith and Honeycrisp ApplesÂ
- Unsalted Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Puff Pastry
Inspired Homemade Recipes To Try
Mrs. Cheney’s Nobby Apple Cake In a Skillet
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Skillet Apple Tarte Tatin
- Prep Time: 25 Minutes
- Cook Time: 45 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 Tarte 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cast Iron
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 5–6 Granny Smith and Honeycrisp Apples (a few of both is best), peeled, cored and sliced into 8ths
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 sheet Puff Pastry, thawed, rolls slightly to ensure that it takes up the whole skillet and smooths any creases in the pastry
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare apples if you have not done so, peeling, coring and cutting the apples into 8 slices.
In the skillet, melt together the butter and sugar, whisking over medium high heat until the mixture is smooth and begins to simmer. Whisk it constantly to form a caramel sauce. If it is darkening too quickly, reduce the heat. Whisk about 5-7 minutes to form the caramel.
Lay the apples into the bottom of the skillet, into the caramel in a tight circular formation. They should overlay each other slightly as they will continue to shrink while cooking. Line the outer rime of the skillet with additional apples to form a ring to hold them together if you have extras.
Lay the sheet of thawed puff pastry over the top of the apples and tuck the edges down around the edges of the skillet to hold the apples together. Poke the puff pastry with a fork in several places.
Place the skillet in the oven and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until the puff pastry is deep golden brown. Remove the skillet from the oven and allow it to cool at least 10 minutes prior to turning it out on a serving plate. Some apples may have stuck to the bottom, so carefully place them back into the tarte.
Serve with ice cream, ala mode style if desired!
Notes
Adapted from NYT Foolproof Tarte Tatin and Bon Appetit Tarte Tatin
I have heard SO much goodness about tarte tatin, and have been dying to try it! Can’t wait to get my face up into this!
Sending you lots of good vibes for your test! I know you will ace it! Just like this tatin!
Very well done!
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Just made this and it was so fantastic! Â My new go to no fuss dessert to impress my guests. Â I am not a baker and this could not have been easier! Â
For my tastes this is way too sweet. Halve the sugar
Thanks for the feedback Jason. I kept the sugar at the level to create that caramelization. But I understand different tastes in sugar levels. Thanks!
Have cooked apples a bit befor worried that if i dont they will not cook through to be nice and soft.
Definitely cook them in the cast iron until they become softened, but they will continue to cook while the tarte tatin bakes, too.