Cours de Cuisine: Tarte Tatin

I have a show on the Food Network…in my head “…but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” Food for thought…

Today, I had the opportunity to take a “Cours de Cuisine” (Cooking Class) as another peek into the ever-rich French culture (and as a part of my hypothetical Food Network show). We were greeted by a French woman who welcomed us into her beautiful, quintessential European house – walls lined with vines and flowers and Victorian banisters. There were two wooden tables full of golden apples set up for the eight of us in this time slot. We were split into groups of four (we may have had our deficiencies in culinary technique, but WE didn’t eat all the apples prematurely). It was basically the Iron Chef, but not.

The recipe for today was les Tartes Tatins, or Apple Tarts.

• Peel and core apples, and cut them into halves

• Melt caramel and pour into pie pan

• After the caramel has cooled, place the apples into the pan

• Take a flat piece of dough and place on top of apples and wrap around the sides, like you’re tucking in a baby!!

• Coat it with sugar and cinnamon or whatever spices you please
• Bake in oven, flip it onto a pretty plate, et voilà

• You can also make a light cream to go on top of the slices of tarte. We put a hint of cinnamon in our cream, but it’s really up to you

The recipe is and was very simple, so we spent about 20% of the time cooking, and 80% of the time eating our creation and relaxing in the very charming backyard.  She served us an alcoholic apple cider that went perfectly with this tarte. This dessert is absolutely delicious and not brain-numbingly sweet – light enough that you can enjoy it in a summer dress. It was a picturesque afternoon – tarte tatin, cool apple cider, under the light French sky, enjoying the best of our summer and youth.