Tarte Tatin

Last week Erica (a.k.a. my awesome WXYC mentor DJ) and I got together to bake a tart. We settled on the classic French upside-down carmelized apple tart, tarte tatin, using the recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook:

Tarte Tatin

Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the-house crust recipe, using all-purpose flour (at right)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
7-9 apples, cored and quartered (we used Jonagold and Gala)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare crust (recipe at right) and refrigerate. Spread butter on bottom and sides of cast iron skillet and pour sugar evenly over bottom. Arrange apples tightly in concentric circles in pan. Cook apples on moderately high heat, without stirring until juices are deep golden and bubbling (YEAH!), about 18-25 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out crust in a circle large enough to cover the skillet and sides. Bake apples in the skillet for 20 minutes (apples will settle and become soft). Remove skillet from oven and lay the pastry round over the apples, tucking in the sides. Bake until pastry is browned 20-25 minutes. Transfer skillet to a rack and cool for at least 10 minutes. Just before serving, flip skillet onto plate to upright so that pastry is on the bottom and apples are on top. Serve immediately.

My skillet had gone missing, so we had to do some shuffling of pans...THEN we got to girl-talking and nearly scorched the apples, but they ended up just on the brink between perfectly carmelized and burnt. Topped it all off with a bit of bourbon-ginger whipped cream. We thought that it could use a bit more sweetness and spice--perhaps some cinnamon and ginger tossed with the apples. But still...
DJ-LICIOUS!