Adapted from a recipe by Felicity Cloake

Voluptuous and delectable, this cooked upside down apple tart is a French classic.
Use firm-fleshed, not floury, apples, and be VERY careful of the hot caramel.

Serves 6

Ingredients
175g ready-made shortcrust pastry OR
225g plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
120g cold butter
1 medium egg, beaten

7 medium firm fleshed apples: for example, 4 Cox, 3 Granny Smith
200g white sugar
50g butter
1 vanilla pod

Method
1. Peel, halve and core the apples, then put in the fridge, uncovered, for 24 hours. Halve
the vanilla pod lengthwise, leaving one end still attached.

2. Put the sugar into a 20cm heavy-based ovenproof frying pan along with 50ml water
and leave to soak for a couple of minutes, then cook over a medium heat until golden
and fudgy. Take off the heat and stir in the butter, and a pinch of salt, until well
combined, then place the vanilla pod, opened out, in the centre of the pan. Carefully –
the caramel will be very hot! – arrange the apples on top, round-side down – you may
need to cut some of the apples into smaller pieces to fill in the gaps. Put the pan back
on the heat. Cook for 5 minutes, then take off the heat and allow to cool completely.

3. If making the pastry, sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar and a
pinch of salt. Grate in the butter, then rub together until it is coarse crumbs.
4. Mix the egg with 2 tsp cold water and sprinkle over the mixture. Mix together into a
soft but not sticky dough, adding more water (if required) very gradually. Shape into a
ball, and then cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before rolling
out.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Roll out the pastry (you’ll probably have some
left over if you’ve made your own) to 5mm thick, and cut out a circle slightly larger than
your pan. Put back into the fridge to rest.

6. Put the pastry on top of the pan and tuck in the edges around the fruit. Bake for
about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden, then remove from the oven. Allow to cool
for 5 minutes, then place a plate, slightly larger than the pan, on top and then, very
carefully, using oven gloves, invert the tart on to the plate. Best served warm, with
crème fraîche.