Tarte Tatin from BistroX

Ingredients 

400 g caster sugar 

300 g French butter, cut into 8 slices 

2 vanilla beans, halved lengthways 

12 firm Golden Delicious apples 

1 kg puff pastry block, rolled into 2 sheets 

1 L vanilla ice cream 

Eight-spice powder: 

• 2½ tsp juniper berries 
• 5 star anise 
• 2 tsp cloves 
• 1 tsp white peppercorns 
• ½ tsp cardamom seeds 
• 1 large cinnamon quill 
• 1 small pinch saffron 
• 2 tsp Murray River salt flakes 

Method 

Dry-roast all eight-spice ingredients (except salt) until fragrant (2–3 mins). Grind with salt until fine. Set aside. 

Divide sugar between two 18 cm cast-iron pans. Add butter slices, 1 tsp eight-spice powder, and vanilla beans arranged in a cross. 

Peel, core and halve apples; place cut-side up in pans. Cover with 3–4 mm thick puff pastry, cut 6–7 cm larger than the pan. Tuck edges under apples. Chill for 15 mins. 

Preheat oven to 190°C. Score pastry in the centre and between apples. Cook on low–medium heat until sugar and butter caramelise (12–18 mins). 

Baste pastry with bubbling caramel as it rises through the cuts. 

Transfer pans to oven; bake until golden and puffed, basting halfway (15–20 mins). 

Remove from oven, loosen edges, and carefully invert onto a board. Slice into 6 portions. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. 

BistroX at The StandardX Hotel 

419 Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy