Apple Tarte Tatin Deconstructed

I am a fan of all things baked with apples; and am constantly on the lookout for easy recipes using this fruit.

The original post that inspired this was entitled Deconstructing Miss Tatin.  I love the whimsical note in the title.  In that post, Miss Tatin was deconstructed in a rice-cooker.  Yup, it was one of those "10,000 ways to cook with your humble rice-cooker" kinda recipe.  It was supposed to be as easy as just dump everything into the rice cooker and press "ON".  

After giving this a go, I decided that baking using the rice cooker is not as fuss-free as it sounds.  Sure, the prep part is easy.  But the cooking part didn't sit well with impatient me.  Firstly, you'll need to have a non-stick rice cooker.  Mine wasn't.  So the lovely caramelised apples got stuck and burnt at the bottom.  My Miss Tatin version 1 had a bad sun burn and looked like it was pawed by a few stray dogs.  AND I have a burnt rice cooker to wash.

Secondly, the cooking part took 40minutes, and I had to press the "ON" button three times, each time having to wait for 2 minutes in between each cooking cycle.  Meh.  As we Malaysians put it, too "leceh".  I want to be able to leave it to cook, set the timer, and "forget about it" so to speak. 

Then it struck me - why not cook this on a non-stick pan.  Since I am already camarelizing the apples in the pan, why not just pour the batter straight on top, cover and cook/bake it straight.  Just one pan to wash.  

And that's how my version of Miss Tatin came about.  On a non-stick pan.  So easy and fast.  Only a mixing bowl and a pan to wash.  Totally up my alley.

This is by no means an authentic tarte tatin.  Instead of a crisp puff pastry, you will find a light and moist sponge cake.  Hubby and son gave their thumbs up.  Next round I'll try it with puff pastry and update this post.   


Apple Tarte Tatin Deconstructed

To make the caramelized apples

• 3 small Fuji apples
• 1 tbspn butter
• 3 tbspn brown sugar
• Dash of vanilla essence
• Pinch of cinnamon powder

To make the batter

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 50g (3 tbspn) melted butter
• 1 tspn baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs (cold from the fridge is fine)

1.  Peel and core the apples, and cut into 8 slices each.

2.  Using a 20cm non stick pan, add in the butter and apples and cook for about 2 minutes until apples start to soften.  Add in the sugar and gently cook until the sugar starts to caramelized.  This will take about 10-15minutes.

3.  In the meantime, put the 50g cold butter in a glass bowl (I use a large mixing bowl) and zap it in the microwave on 60% for 1 minute.

4.  Sift the flour directly into the bowl, add in the sugar, eggs, baking powder and salt.  Use a whisk and mix until well blended. 

5.  Using a pair of plastic tongs, arrange the apple slices into a circular fan pattern and pour the batter over the apples, ensuring that the batter is all evenly spread out.  Cover the pan with a see-through glass cover and turn down to the lowest fire.  This will steam the cake and continue to caramelize the sugar.  The cake should be cooked in about 15 minutes.  Test with a cake skewer.  The batter should spring back gently and the sides turned crisp and have pulled back slightly from the pan.

6.  Let it cool in the pan for about 20minutes.  Place a plate on top of the pan and invert the cake.  Best serve with vanilla ice cream.