Vegan Tarte Tatin

A glossy, gorgeous vegan Tarte Tatin is exactly the kind of dessert to impress family, guests and yourself with! This French pastry needs just four ingredients and it's easy as pie to make.

A Tarte Tatin might sound all French and intimidating, but think of it as just a glamorous, skinny, upside-down tart. An apple tart, that is.

Like all food French, it's also delicious and minimalist, making it an easier-than-you-might-think project.

We are die-hard apple pie fans in our home, and I fell in love with the Tarte Tatin years ago, when I veganized a rather traditional recipe from the Joy of Cooking. This is still the recipe I use, and love, and it is quite foolproof. You make a vegan pie crust, slice a few apples, and you're almost done.

There are just four ingredients in this recipe, flour, apples, sugar and vegan butter. There are none of the spices here that usually would go into an apple pie, like cinnamon or nutmeg. And the tart itself is gorgeous to look at: the apples, which cook in a sea of caramel and butter, look like amber jewels -- glossy and glassy and quite stunning. The buttery pie crust is flaky and crisp and the perfect cradle for your caramelized apples.

Four ingredients:

• Apples
• Unbleached all purpose flour
• Sugar. I used coconut sugar and I recommend it, but any sugar you want to use is fine. I'd lean toward something that's brown, because I love the added taste of molasses in my apple pies.
• Vegan butter

What kind of apples to use

Any pie apple would work here. I sometimes use Golden Delicious, Granny Smith or Braeburn for my pies, but the apples we love and most consume in our home are Pink Ladies, and they make great pie apples too. Pink Ladies were what I used this time for this Tarte Tatin. These pretty apples also hold their shape well after baking, which is perfect for a Tarte Tatin where the apples form the glossy top of the tart (unlike in a covered apple pie where they would be wrapped between crusts).

You can find more guidance on picking a great apple for your pies here.

How to make a vegan pastry crust:

• Start by making your pie crust. Most Tarte Tatin recipes use a puff pastry crust, and it certainly makes things easy because it reduces the work you have to do. But a classic and traditional Tarte Tatin requires a flaky crust that's somewhat similar to a pie crust. And making one is not difficult at all. If you've never made a pie crust before, don't be afraid -- mixing fat and flour with a fork is not the hardest thing you'll do. Come to think of it, it's probably one of the easiest.
• To make the crust dough, place 1 ¼ cups of unbleached all purpose flour in a bowl. Mix in 1 tablespoon of sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Then cut in 8 tablespoons of very cold vegan butter (cut the butter into ¼-inch cubes before you put it in the flour). To cut the butter into the flour, which is just a fancy way of saying you need to incorporate the butter into the flour in a way that you mix it in without melting the butter, but rather leaving in little crumbs of fat suspended throughout the flour. When your pie bakes, those pockets of fat will dissolve, creating little air pockets, and making your crust all flaky. The best way to make sure your butter "cuts" into your fat properly is to use a pastry cutter, but if you don't have one of those, a fork works fine too. Press the butter into the flour gently using the tines until you have small pieces of fat evenly dispersed through the flour.
• Once the butter's been incorporated into the flour, drizzle in very cold, iced water into the bowl slowly, mixing with your fork at the same time, until the dough comes together into a ball. This is the only part where you need to be a bit extra careful, because you don't want your dough to be too dry, which will make the crust difficult to roll, or too wet, which will make it tough.
• Once your dough holds together, lift it out of the bowl and into a sheet of cling wrap. Wrap it tight, and shape the dough into a disc by patting it with your fingers. Try not to handle the dough as much as possible because your body heat is not kind to a pie crust. You want those buttery pockets to stay intact, remember, so your crust gets flaky, not dense. Refrigerate the crust for at least 30 minutes.

How to make the tart filling:

• This is the easy part. You need to core and slice five apples fairly thin lengthwise -- I make 16 slices of each apple.
• Heat 4 tablespoon vegan butter in a skillet or in a saucepan. (I'll take a moment here to explain that you can make this a one-skillet recipe, if you have a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. I do that sometimes, but this time I baked my Tarte Tatin up in a 9 ½-inch cake pan, so I cooked the filling in a regular steel saucepan first, and then put it all together in the cake tin. I find that if I do it this way, rather than in a skillet, it is easier for me to control the look of the final tart because I can arrange the apple slices better).
• Once the butter's melted, sprinkle one cup of sugar into the pan. Then add in five sliced apples. It may seem like a lot to begin with, but the apples will soften and settle down as they release their juices. At this stage I add in a small pinch of salt to help them do that. Stir the apples gently into the butter, trying not to break them. Continue to cook the apples over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, turning them over gently every now and then, until the apples are softened and have released their juices. Turn off the heat.
• When I'm using a cake tin, I butter the tin and line the bottom with parchment paper for extra insurance. You don't have to use the parchment because the tarte tatin does slide out quite easily when it's still quite warm, but do butter the pan.
• Using tongs, lift out the apple slices and arrange them in circles around the pan, overlapping them slightly. You should have enough apples to make two layers. Pour the juice remaining in the saucepan evenly over the apples. If you're going to continue baking in the skillet, you can just leave your apples free-form because arranging them into a pattern in a hot skillet will be tougher -- you'll have a more rustic-looking but still very pretty tart.

How to assemble and bake the tart:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Once your filling's made, bring the pastry dough out of the refrigerator. Flour the countertop and roll out the puff pastry into a circle slightly larger than the diameter of your cake pan or skillet. Make sure you keep moving your dough as you roll, flouring the surface more if needed, so the dough doesn't stick to the countertop. Once your dough is rolled out, if you want a more finished look, try and cut any rough edges away with a knife. I have two cake tins of the same size, so I use the other as a guide.
• Gently lift your pastry dough (easiest way to do this is to fold it once, and then once more before lifting), and carefully place it on top of the apples. Unfold it and if it is slightly larger than the cake tin, just gently fold in the edges. If you're doing this in your skillet be careful -- the skillet's hot and you don't want to burn yourself!
• Place the cake pan or the skillet in the oven and bake 35 minutes. The puff pastry should be a light gold when you remove the tart from the oven.
• Let the pan or skillet cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Then run a knife along the sides of the pan to loosen the tart and place a dish on top of the pan. In a quick motion, invert the pan -- the tart should drop quite easily into the plate. Remove the pan and the parchment, if it comes off with the tart. If any of the apple slices have gone askew, just rearrange them. Et voila.
• If you baked your tart in a skillet, be careful when you invert the tart because the skillet is still quite warm. Use oven mitts when doing this.
• Let the tart cool thoroughly before serving.

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Looking for more vegan pie and cake recipes?

• Vegan Pumpkin Praline Tart
• Vegan Peach Berry Pie
• Vegan Pumpkin Pie
• Vegan Apple Tart
• Vegan French Apple Tart
• Vegan Rhubarb Pie
• Vegan Apricot Frangipane Tart

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Vegan Tarte Tatin Recipe

Vegan Tarte Tatin

A glossy, gorgeous vegan Tarte Tatin is exactly the kind of dessert to impress family, guests and yourself! This French pastry needs just four ingredients and it's easy as pie to make.

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French, French Vegan, nut-free, Soy-free

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 25 minutes mins

Cook Time: 35 minutes mins

Resting time: 4 hours hrs

Total Time: 5 hours hrs

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 237kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Ingredients 

For the pastry crust:

• ▢ 1 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon sugar
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 8 tablespoon vegan butter (very cold, cut into approx 1-inch cubes)
• ▢ Ice-cold water as needed

For the apple filling:

• ▢ 4 tablespoon vegan butter
• ▢ 1 cup sugar (I use turbinado for all my baking, but you can use regular)
• ▢ 5 apples (I used pink ladies, but any pie apple works here)

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Instructions

Make the pie crust:

• Place 1 ¼ cups of unbleached all purpose flour in a bowl. Mix in 1 tablespoon of sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Then cut in 8 tablespoons of very cold vegan butter into the flour.
  
• Once the butter’s been incorporated into the flour, drizzle in very cold, iced water into the bowl slowly, mixing with your fork at the same time, until the dough comes together into a ball.
  
• Lift it out of the bowl and into a sheet of cling wrap. Wrap it tight, and shape the dough into a disc by patting it with your fingers. Try not to handle the dough as much as possible because your body heat is not kind to a pie crust. You want those buttery pockets to stay intact, remember, so your crust gets flaky, not dense. Refrigerate the crust for at least 30 minutes.
• Form the dough into a disc and put it in the refrigerator while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

Make the apple filling:

• Melt the vegan butter in a skillet (if you plan to bake the entire tart in a skillet, a 10-inch cast-iron skillet works best).
• Once the butter’s melted, sprinkle one cup of sugar into the pan. Then add in five sliced apples. It may seem like a lot to begin with, but the apples will soften and settle down as they release their juices. At this stage I add in a small pinch of salt to help them do that.
  
• Stir the apples gently into the butter, trying not to break them. Continue to cook the apples over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, turning them over gently every now and then, until the apples are softened and have released their juices. Turn off the heat.
• When I’m using a cake tin, I butter the tin and line the bottom with parchment paper for extra insurance. You don’t have to use the parchment because the tarte tatin does slide out quite easily when it’s still quite warm, but do butter the pan.
  
• Using tongs, lift out the apple slices and arrange them in circles around the pan, overlapping them slightly. You should have enough apples to make two layers. Pour the juice remaining in the saucepan evenly over the apples. If you’re going to continue baking in the skillet, you can just leave your apples free-form because arranging them into a pattern in a hot skillet will be tougher — you’ll have a more rustic-looking but still very pretty tart.

Assemble the tart:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Flour the countertop and roll out the pastry dough into a circle slightly larger than the diameter of your cake pan or skillet. Make sure you keep moving your dough as you roll, flouring the surface more if needed, so the dough doesn’t stick to the countertop. Once your dough is rolled out, if you want a more finished look, try and cut any rough edges away with a knife. I have two cake tins of the same size, so I use the other as a guide.
  
• Gently lift your pastry dough (easiest way to do this is to fold it once, and then once more before lifting), and carefully place it on top of the apples. Unfold it and if it is slightly larger than the cake tin, just gently fold in the edges. If you’re doing this in your skillet be careful — the skillet’s hot and you don’t want to burn yourself!
• Place the cake pan or the skillet in the oven and bake 35 minutes. The puff pastry should be a light gold when you remove the tart from the oven.Let the pan or skillet cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Then run a knife along the sides of the pan to loosen the tart and place a dish on top of the pan. In a quick motion, invert the pan — the tart should drop quite easily into the plate.
• Remove the pan and the parchment, if it comes off with the tart. If any of the apple slices have gone askew, just rearrange them. Et voila.If you baked your tart in a skillet, be careful when you invert the tart because the skillet is still quite warm. Use oven mitts when doing this.
• Let the tart cool thoroughly before serving.

Recipe notes

• Serve the tart with a dollop of vegan vanilla ice cream or vegan whipped cream. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 237kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 140mg | Potassium: 95mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 576IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg

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