Tarte Tatin

Let’s Talk About the Tarte Tatin!

France is home to many unbelievable fruit tarts and pastries of all kinds, but few French desserts have such serendipitous origins as the humble tarte tatin.

What is the tarte tatin?

For the American palate, the familiar apple pie might be the closest comparison. Like the apple pie, the tarte tatin contains apples, cinnamon, sugar, butter, and a delicious pastry. The biggest visible difference is that the tarte tatin lacks any crust on top, leaving the apples exposed. Instead, only the bottom of the tarte has crust, and the apples rest on the top. While there are many creative ways to arrange the apples, traditionally you can find them presented in the shape of a spiral wheel.

Where did the tarte tatin come from and what’s so serendipitous about it?

The story is that the tarte tatin was born in the late 1880’s from the clumsy mistake of two French sisters, Carolina and Stéphanie Tatin. The two sisters ran a small hotel café south of Paris. One day, they had an exceptionally large number of orders to fill. Stéphanie absent-mindedly placed an apple tart into the oven upside-down. Stressed by all the orders piling up, Stéphanie decided to serve the tart anyway. As the story goes, the Stéphanie’s surprise became the talk of the town and eventually the “tarte tatin” found its way into the family of French sweets.

Food for thought…

Have you tried the tarte tatin? Do you prefer tarte tatin or apple pie? Do you know that usually the tarte tatin is eaten warm and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or even some crème fraîche? A real comfort desserts especially in Fall! Let us know if the comments below!