Little beats the perfection of a classic Tarte Tatin. Serve it warm with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and I’m sold. The culinary technique behind this staple dessert can be applied to many different types of fruit but also works wonders with savory flavours. As long as your filling has a sticky, caramelized consistency and that you top the tart with flaky puff pastry you can’t really go wrong.
The only tricky part is to invert the dish once it’s cooked. The beauty of a Tarte Tatin comes from the way it is cooked – with the puff pastry tightly nestled on top of the dish- the filling will bubble away while the dough can slowly crisp up without getting soggy. My best advice is not to over-think it when times comes time to invert the dish- simply run a pairing knife around the edges of the tart, top the tart with your platter (or a cutting board) and flip it over in one confident go. If a few sticky filling pieces stay lodged in your cooking vessel, gently free them and arrange on top of your dish.
The caramelized shallots and soft, fresh goat cheese perfectly standout to the buttery crust in this hearty concoction. We enjoyed a slice alongside fresh, lemony greens and a drizzle of good olive oil.I used a version of James Martin’s recipe, but cooked the shallots for longer, until they turned a nice amber colour, added some fresh chives once the tart was cooked and topped with dollops of fresh goat cheese.
Enjoy the read!
Sara
August 3, 2012 at 11:26 am (12 years ago)Wow, gorgeous! That is one beautiful tart. I love goat cheese and caramelized onions together, so I bet with the shallots it’s just amazing!
Suzanne Perazzini
August 3, 2012 at 6:05 pm (12 years ago)I just made a great sandwich filled with Caramelised onion, beef and other things for a recipe development company and yu can’t beat onions done this way for flavour. I had something like this tart years ago in England and I still remember it.
Chocolate Shavings
August 4, 2012 at 3:43 am (12 years ago)Suzanne Perazzini: Shallots and onions become incredibly sweet when they are slowly cooked down. I always whish I had a little extra to spoon over crusty bread!
daphne
August 5, 2012 at 6:56 pm (12 years ago)yum! what a tarte tartin. I do like your tip about how to remove it. And also, it’s nice to see a savoury one instead of a sweet version! caramelised onions, goats cheese.. love it!
Chocolate Shavings
August 6, 2012 at 2:04 am (12 years ago)Daphne: Thanks!
herbivoresheaven
August 6, 2012 at 7:38 am (12 years ago)I’ve never made tarte tatin, but you’ve inspired me to give it a go! You can’t beat goats’ cheese and caramelised onions together. Yum!
Torviewtoronto
August 7, 2012 at 10:52 pm (12 years ago)looks wonderful delicious combination
Junglefrog
August 9, 2012 at 1:55 am (12 years ago)That looks pretty much like a match made in heaven! Weirdly enough I never made a tarte tatin yet but this one is begging me to give it a try soon!
Chocolate Shavings
August 9, 2012 at 4:33 am (12 years ago)Junglefrog: I hope you do – the end-result is always so satisfying!
Sweet Athena
August 28, 2012 at 7:29 pm (12 years ago)This looks amazing! I, like many others love the taste of goat cheese and caramelized onions. Great tips, thanks for sharing.