Vegan apple tarte tatin with orange and cinnamon

Serves - 6 to 8

You’ll need

• 6 firm eating apples, such as Braeburn or Pink Lady
• 100g caster sugar
• 50g vegan block butter
• Zest of 1 orange
• Juice of ½ orange
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 x 320g sheet ready-rolled vegan puff pastry
• Plain flour, for dusting

To serve, optional
• Vegan vanilla ice cream
• Dairy-free crème fraîche or yoghurt

Method

1. Get the apples ready

Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Try to keep the halves reasonably neat, as they will become the top of the tart once everything is turned out. A little effort now saves you trying to disguise oddly hacked fruit later.

2. Start the caramel

Heat the oven to 190°C fan. Put the caster sugar into a 23cm ovenproof frying pan or tarte tatin dish and set it over a medium heat. Let the sugar melt slowly, swirling the pan now and then rather than stirring, until it turns a deep golden caramel.

Keep an eye on it. Caramel has a habit of looking perfectly calm before suddenly becoming someone else’s problem.

3. Add the orange and cinnamon

Take the pan briefly off the heat and carefully add the vegan butter, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon and a small pinch of salt. It may bubble and seize slightly at first, but keep stirring gently over a low heat and it will come back together into a smooth, fragrant caramel.

4. Arrange the apples

Pack the apple halves tightly into the pan, rounded-side down. They will shrink as they cook, so fit in as many as you reasonably can. Spoon a little of the caramel over the fruit, then cook over a medium-low heat for 10–12 minutes, turning the apples once if needed, until they are beginning to soften and take on the flavour of the caramel.

5. Add the pastry

Unroll the puff pastry and cut it into a circle slightly larger than the pan. Lay it over the apples, then carefully tuck the edges down around the fruit. Prick the pastry a few times with a fork so steam can escape rather than building up unnecessary ideas underneath.

6. Bake until golden

Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 25–30 minutes until the pastry is puffed, crisp and deeply golden. The caramel should be bubbling around the edges and the whole thing should smell as though patience is becoming increasingly unreasonable.

7. Let it settle

Take the tart out of the oven and leave it to stand for 5 minutes. Do not leave it much longer, or the caramel may set and make turning it out considerably more dramatic than anyone needs.

8. Turn it out

Place a large serving plate over the pan. Using oven gloves and a firm grip, turn the whole thing over in one confident movement. Lift the pan away carefully. If any apple pieces have stayed behind, simply put them back into place and carry on as though that was always the plan.

9. Serve

Serve warm, spooning over any caramel left in the pan. A scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of dairy-free crème fraîche works beautifully alongside, particularly once it starts melting into the orange-scented caramel.

A couple of helpful notes
- Use a firm apple that will soften without collapsing entirely. Very floury cooking apples can turn the top of the tart into something closer to apple sauce.
- Check that the puff pastry is labelled vegan, as some ready-rolled versions contain butter.
- The tart is best served warm on the day it is made, while the pastry is still crisp and the caramel is soft and glossy.