Preparation

Tarte Tatin is a stunning and relatively simple dessert to make, keeping a few pointers in mind. Cooking the sugar with some lemon juice helps prevent it from crystallizing as it browns, but it is still best to swirl the pan for even browning, and not stir. To keep the pastry crisp and prevent burning yourself with hot caramel, let the tarte cool until the bottom of the skillet is just slightly warm before flipping. Enjoy fresh and warm with ice cream or whipped cream. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, but the pastry will not retain its crispness.  

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Peel, halve, and core the apples. Cut 1 half into 3 to 4 wedges. Unfold the puff pastry on a piece of parchment paper and gently roll until it’s big enough to trace a 27 cm circle. Use the top of a HexClad 25CM Hybrid Fry Pan to trace a circle a little bit bigger than the pan, 26 to 27 cm, and then cut with a sharp knife. Lightly prick with a fork all over. Return the cut circle to the refrigerator while making the caramel. 
2. Combine the sugar, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon water in a 25cm HexClad Hybrid Pan. It will look like wet sand with some dry patches of sugar. Turn the heat under the pan to medium. Cook, swirling and shaking the pan occasionally under the sugar melts and becomes an even rich amber color, 4 to 5 minutes, taking care not to cook it too long or the caramel will taste bitter. Reduce the heat under the pan and rotate it if one side is cooking too fast. Add the butter and salt and cook until smooth. Add the apples in a single layer. Continue to cook, spooning some of the juices over the apples and carefully turning them occasionally, until the liquid in the pan is thick and syrupy and the outsides of the apples are beginning to soften, 8 to 10 minutes. When you add the apples, the caramel will thin as the fruit releases its juices, but will thicken again as it cooks. Remove from the heat. Rearrange the apple halves in a nice pattern, cored side up, with one half in the center and the others around it in a circle. Fit the smaller wedges into any open spaces around the center apple.
3. Fit the puff pastry over the apples, tucking any overhang inside the pan edge, and transfer to the oven. Bake until the pastry is a deep brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in the pan until only slightly warm, about 30 minutes.
4. Carefully fit a large plate on top of the pastry and carefully invert the skillet so the apples are on top. Serve with vanilla ice cream.