Tuesday, January 5, 2010

TWD: Birthday Edition


Today the TWD bakers are celebrating a special occasion: our two-year anniversary. Thanks to our fearless leader, Laurie, for inviting other bakers to join her while exploring BFMHTY, and thanks to Dorie for creating the really wonderful recipes contained in BFMHTY. It's been a fun ride for nearly two years (I joined in February 2008) and there are still quite a few recipes to bake.

Laurie gave us the choice of making either Cocoa Buttermilk Cake or Tarte Tatin. Since I have never made a tarte tatin, that is what I chose.



I made my pie crust on Saturday, so it would be ready to go at a moment's notice. While I was pretty sure I had enough apples, I didn't want to be caught short, so I stopped by the grocery today on the way home from my quilt meeting. Even though I'm swamped with work at this time, I didn't want to pass up the chance to play along on this special day.

I used five Gala apples and one Honey Crisp that decided to jump ship and hide amongst the Galas. I had a spare Fuji waiting in the wings in case I need extras. When I worked at the restaurant, I made many, many individual apple crisps, so I can peel and slice apples in a flash.



On the other hand, it seemed to take forever for the sugar to caramelize. I'm guessing at least 20 minutes, and it's a testament to my patience that I didn't quit early and have pale apples.

The pie crust topping was ready to go.



It shrunk up nicely in the oven.


Now, I don't know quite what I did when I flipped the tarte out onto the rimmed serving plate, but I do know that I was covered in caramel. There was plenty on the tarte, plenty on the plate, and plenty on me. The never-ending caramel sauce. My arms kept sticking to my shirt, so I gave up and changed clothes.

It actually worked!


Now that I've finished dinner, I will head over to the kitchen and cut a slice. The camera batteries died, of course, just after I unmolded the tarte, so there are no photos of slices tonight. Maybe tomorrow.


I still want to bake the chocolate cake, but that will be sometime in the future. Meanwhile, thanks again to Laurie and Dorie and to all the other TWD bakers who make this an enjoyable group.




7 comments:

slush said...

Your tarte looks perfect! So glad you liked it. And many thanks for sticking with me on this very tasty ride. xo

Megan said...

I find it very hard to believe that you've never made tart tatin before. I just can't wrap my brain around that concept.

However, I am still snickering over the caramel launching itself all over you and your kitchen. Sorry, I find humor in the silliest things.

Anonymous said...

I too was surprised at how long it took for the caramel transformation. Unfortunately, i was less attentive than you and I had some scorched spots. The color of your tarte is just fantastic. Great job.

Susan said...

I decided to make this tonight (already made the cake) and it took over 25 minutes for the caramel to start to darken. The end result...Fabulous!!!! I am so glad I made it!

TeaLady said...

I had never made a tatin either, but there will be a next one as well. Very tasty.

Yours .looks lovely.

Karine said...

Great job with your tarte tatin! It sounds delicious :)

Kayte said...

This looks spectacular! I want to make it all over again. I love how you snuggled your crust in like you did. I wasn't really sure how to do that part, but seeing yours, I will do it better next time. Those apples look so great!