Step 1

To make the swirled apple tarte tatin: Preheat oven to 350°F. If you have a baking stone or Steel, preheat that in the lower third of the oven. This will help to bake the Tartes evenly.

Step 2

Generously grease the baking dish/es with butter, place on baking sheet and set aside. (baker’s note: I used eight 8-ounce copper soufflé molds. Any oven safe ramekins will work. They can be any size, you’ll just have to adjust the size of the spiraled apples and perhaps the baking time. You can even bake one large Tarte Tatin, using all the apple ribbons in one giant spiral. The smaller version may be easier for the first go at this.)

Step 3

Create the spiraled apples to fit the size of the baking dish you have chosen. The apples should fit easily, but snuggly into the dish. I spiraled the apple ribbons and then cut the spiral in half to create two equal spirals. This seemed a better size for an individual dessert and my apples were quite large, so the ribbons were wide. See my Instagram video for size reference and to see how I cut them in half.

Step 4

Make the caramel: In a large saucepan put the sugar in a mound in the center of the pan, be sure it doesn’t hit the sides. Gently add the corn syrup and water, making sure the sugar doesn’t splash up on the sides of the pan. DO NOT STIR.

Step 5

If any of the sugar is not dissolved, very gently drag your finger through the sugar until the water saturates it all, but make sure none of the sugar hits the sides of the pan. (All of this care to keep the sugar off the side of the pan will prevent your sugar from crystallizing while it cooks.)

Step 6

Cook over high heat, without stirring. When the sugar starts to color on the edges, gently stir the sugar. Until it is quite dark, it will smoke a bit. I like my caramel very dark, with an almost bitter edge. Immediately distribute the caramel evenly into the prepared baking dish/es.

Step 7

Place a pat of butter over the hot caramel. Add the spiraled apples.

Step 8

Place the apple in the oven and immediately drop the temperature to 325°F. Bake until the apples are tender and the caramel seems to have saturated the apples. The baking time may vary depending on the apples and size of pan. I baked mine for about 1 hour.

Step 9

Remove from oven and immediately flip the apples out onto a greased foil lined baking sheet.

Step 10

Bake the puff pastry: Preheat oven to 425°F Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 11

Defrost the puff pastry as directed. Roll the dough about 1/8″ thick and cut out circles that are just larger than the dishes you are baking the apples in. Set the circles onto the prepared baking sheet. The puff pastry will shrink in diameter as it rises in the oven.

Step 12

Freeze the dough until firm again, about 10 minutes. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake until puffed, golden and set.

Step 13

When ready to serve, heat the apples for a few minutes in the oven, then use a spatula to set them onto the puff pastry rounds, which will shatter the puff pastry slightly. Serve pure and simple or with ice cream!