This week has been all about ‘puffy’ pastry. Since watching Monica (Galetti) create a majestic looking apple Tart Tatin on MasterChef the week before last, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head… so this week I had to have a go myself.
I was distinctly lacking in the relevant ingredients when I set about this challenge (standard), which meant I had to modify a few elements. First off, I had to make my own pastry as opposed to using pre-prepared stuff as Monica suggested, I also freestyled slightly with my apple variety (I only had some Jazz apples to hand so went with this), and I adopted an alternative method because her version made me nervous! Ok so basically mine was nothing like hers, but it WAS an apple Tarte Tatin (of sorts) and it tasted the real deal.
Unfortunately, I can’t take much of the credit for my Tatin creation as I drew inspiration from a couple of my baking idols. For the pastry, I used Nicola Lamb’s INCREDIBLE rough puff pastry (I’ve linked it here, she demonstrates the method really thoroughly and as someone who has struggled with rough puff in the past, I cannot recommend it enough). I then called on Edd Kimber for the Tatin method; in his book, Small batch bakes *, he makes individual apple Tart Tatin which I love because with only Mum and I at home, I cannot justify a larger version – again, it’s a belter of a recipe, the apples become so buttery and caramelised, and the pastry remains crisp, yet full of sticky caramel flavour, heavenly! If you need some dessert inspiration, AND/or want to perfect your rough puff pastry technique – you have to give both of these recipes a go!
*you can also find a copy of the recipe featured as a ‘guest recipe’ on Nigella’s website here YAY!!!
With the remaining pastry I had left over from my Tatins, I decided I wanted to make some Palmiers. If you’re not familiar with Palmiers, they’re simply made from a layer of puff pastry smothered in sugar, rolled up, chopped into 1cm chunks, and baked in such a way that they resemble a palm heart (or pig/elephant ear, depending on which source you read). They’re the perfect marriage of sweet, buttery, caramelised, crunchy goodness, they’re also incredibly easy to make, and even easier to eat. If you want to keep things super simple, buy the pastry and you have yourself a quick, and easy 2-ingredient recipe.
I’ll be honest here, I loaded a tad (ok quite a bit) too much sugar onto my pastry which resulted in more crystallisation and less caramelisation – this wasn’t offensive, in fact I kind of loved it, but also, it wasn’t quite the desired result. I have amended the amount of sugar in the recipe below accordingly. I could eat these all day long as they are, but they’re also a great accompaniment to a bowl of ice cream and some warm fruit!
If sweet isn’t your thing, I have also suggested a cheesy option which, again, are wicked. I just used grated parmesan (divine), but I reckon you could switch the cheese up or add some seeds/herbs/ or cayenne for a little extra flavour.
Hope you like them! x x x
Above: Sweet, crunchy palmiers
Above: Cheesy Palmiers
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