Tarte Tartin

•  5-6 golden delicious, granny smith or other non-collapsing apples
• 50g/1¾oz butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ recipe Sweet Sour Cream Pastry, 1 recipe Sweet Flaky Puff Pastry
• or 1 sheet storebought sweet shortcrust or puff pastry
• Crème Anglaise, whipped cream or ice cream, to serve

Peel, quarter and core apples, placing them in a bowl of water with a little lemon juice squeezed into it as you prepare them so they don’t go brown. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F fanbake.

Heat butter, sugar and vanilla in a 26cm/10in ovenproof frypan over a high heat. Cook, stirring now and then, until a rich golden caramel is formed (about 4 minutes). Don’t worry if it looks grainy at the start. Remove from heat and cool the base of the pan in a sink of cold water to stop the caramel from cooking. Carefully arrange apples in the caramel, packing them in tightly in a ring around the edge first and cutting if necessary to fill the centre. Take great care not to burn yourself. 

Roll out pastry on a lightly floured board to a circle the same size as the top of the frypan. Arrange on top of apples, tucking any excess pastry inside the pan. Bake until pastry is golden (40 minutes).

Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes or up to 6 hours at room temperature. If preparing more than 6 hours in advance, cover and chill in the pan, then gently reheat on the stovetop for a couple of minutes to soften the caramel before turning out.

Pour off any excess caramel (if there is any – it will depend on the type of apple) into a jug before placing a plate on top of the pan and then carefully flipping the pan over to invert the tart onto the plate. Spoon any reserved caramel over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature with Crème Anglaise, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.