Gluten Free Apple and Blueberry Mini Tarte Tartin Recipe

This tart of paper-thin apple slices and juicy blueberries all coated in thick caramel makes a perfect autumn dessert!

Makes 4 tartes Tatin

Apple and Blueberry Mini Tarte Tatin 

Overly autumnal, this indulgent tarte Tatin is a classic French dessert made with paper-thin slices of apple and fat blueberries, nearly bursting with their own juice. The first time I ever had a tarte Tatin, I had a single serving. Greedily, I wanted to capture the remaining tarte and gobble it up myself, fork cast aside, getting stuck in with just my fingers.

Somehow, I managed to employ self-restraint. It was that strong urge of gluttony that made me realize two things: 1. Tarte Tatin is one of my top 3 favorite desserts of all time and I get very cross at the thought of having to share it with anyone else. and 2. If I ever made another a tarte Tatin I would need to put extreme measures into place to prevent me from scarfing it all down myself.

That's how these mini tarts came about. No matter how illogical it may seem, I needed to know that I could have a whole tarte to myself. So I made them smaller. Voila! False sense of exclusivity instated and binge eating of French pastry prevented in one fell swoop. I felt like a rock star. And then I tasted it. And I wanted to be alone with my little tarte Tatin. And I was. It was just me and ol' tart-y. Elbows propped up on the kitchen counter and this golden pastry in my hands. It was unrefined, undignified and maybe just a bit uncouth. But it was perfection.

Disclaimer: I've not gone loco. (Completely.)  Did you know that the plural of tarte Tatin is tartes Tatin?! When I found that out, I felt like Lorelai Gilmore and the whole culs-de-sac versus cul-de-sacs thing. Also, the correct grammatical spelling is: tarte Tatin. Just as you would write Granny Smith apple and not Granny Smith Apple.

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Ingredients:

For the tartes Tatin
1/4 to 1/2 cup blueberries
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp butter
2 medium size Granny Smith apples, quartered and sliced thinly
3 tbsp sugar
shop bought gluten free puff pastry

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Instructions:

Apple and Blueberry Mini Tarte Tatin

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
2. Wash blueberries. Drain.
3. Peel your apples. Core them. Halve and slice thinly with a mandolin or freehand but very, very, extremely carefully.
4. Roll out the puff pastry and cut it into four discs bigger than the tart tins, you want to be able to tuck the pastry in.
5. Place the butter, sugar and cinnamon stick in a small skillet and heat to make a caramel. Don't stir the pan, just allow the sugar to do its own thing.
6. Once the caramel starts smoking (no, you've not burnt it!) remove from the heat immediately and pour an equal amount into each tart tin.
7. Arrange a layer of apple slices in a fan shape with blueberries either at the center or dotted around the edge of the tin. If you have extra apple slices, layer them up.
8. Top with the pastry discs, tucking the excess pastry around the edges. Prick a few places with a fork.
9. Bake until golden and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

 When I was baking, I didn't have my camera in the kitchen, but I did snap this photo on my iPod once the tartes Tatin came out of the oven. Apologies for the low quality, but would you look at that crust?! And you can see how juicy those blueberries were by all the juice that came out during cooking.

Gotta have French desserts? Bake these lovelies: 

 Blueberry & Fig Tarte Tatin

Chilli Chocolate Eclairs with Cinnamon Custard Cream

Choux a la Creme or Profiteroles

Choux à la Crème

Choux à la Crème

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