Caramel For Tarte Tatin

Asked by boobear. Answered on 12th July 2016

Full question

I have made the Tarte Tatin a few times. A couple of times it came out perfectly. Another couple of times it seemed to come out perfectly but as it cooled down, halfway through eating, the caramel sauce started to go hard, more like toffee. I can't work out what I did wrong. Did I cook it for too long (the sauce wasn't burnt) or at too high a temperature (in which case, what is the perfect temperature?). I judged it on colour and it seemed to be the same each time. Help very much appreciated as I want to be able to get this right consistently, instead of it being gamble each time. Thank you!

Our answer

Nigella's Tarte Tatin (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) starts by making a caramel sauce, from butter and sugar, in a heavy based pan or tin and then cooking the apples in the caramel sauce before adding the pastry dough on top. The caramel sauce should have a consistency that will coat the apples. Sugar on its own and melted to a caramel will turn hard after cooking and it only becomes a sauce when liquid, such as cream, water or butter, is added.

We wonder if there may not always be enough juice coming from the apples to thin the sauce, so it starts to harden as it cools. We would suggest using an apple that does not turn to a puree quickly on cooking, such as a granny smith or golden delicious. Unfortunately though it is difficult to say exactly how much juice an apple will contain. But the caramel should have a medium amber colour and should leave a thin coating on the back of a spoon (be careful when you check as the caramel sauce is very hot). You may find it helps to add an inverted sugar syrup such as golden syrup or corn syrup to the sauce. Reduce the sugar by 2 tablespoons and use 2 tablespoons of the syrup instead. This should help to stop the caramel from hardening so much as it cools.