Tarte Tatin

Cook the caramel. Melt 180 g sugar in the 24 cm heavy ovenproof pan, controlling the heat until it becomes a clear amber caramel. Timing: 10 minutes. Heat: medium heat. Temperature: stovetop. Amber caramel brings bitterness and sweetness into balance. Molten caramel causes severe burns; do not touch or taste it. The caramel is clear amber with no black patches and smells toasted rather than burnt.

Soften the apples. Add 100 g butter carefully and arrange the 1,000 g prepared apple quarters tightly in the caramel, rounded sides down, then cook until the fruit begins to soften and excess juice visibly reduces. Timing: 15 minutes. Heat: medium-low heat. Temperature: stovetop. Driving off some apple juice prevents a flooded pastry after inversion. Hot butter may spit when it meets caramel; keep hands and face clear. The apples have begun to soften but still hold their quarters, and the caramel looks syrupy rather than watery.

Add the pastry lid. Remove from the heat, let vigorous bubbling subside for a few minutes, then cover the apples with the 250 g pastry round, tuck the edge safely inside the pan and cut two small steam vents. Timing: 5 minutes. Keep off the heat. Tucking the pastry creates the rim once the tart is inverted. The pan and caramel remain extremely hot; use oven gloves. The pastry lies flat over the apples, the edge is tucked inside the pan and two small vents are open.

Bake the pastry fully. Bake until the pastry is deeply golden and fully cooked through. Timing: 35 minutes. Heat: 190 °C conventional oven. Temperature: 190 °C. Full pastry baking is essential because the base will become the underside after inversion. Steam escapes through the vents; keep hands clear when checking the tart. The pastry is deeply golden, dry on the surface and firm rather than doughy at the centre.

Rest and invert. Rest the tart in the pan, then place a heatproof serving plate over it and invert in one confident movement. Timing: 15 minutes. Keep off the heat. A short rest reduces flowing caramel without letting it set hard in the pan. Wear dry oven gloves and keep the plate level; caramel and fruit remain hot enough to burn. After 15 minutes the caramel has thickened slightly but the apples still release cleanly when the pan is lifted.