The Upside Down Apple French Tart

Ingredients:

Pastry

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup butter

3 tbsp cold water

dash salt

Filling (for a smaller pie plate)

3-4 big apples, peeled and sliced into moon shape, quite thinly

2 cups sugar

4 tbsp butter

inside from 1 small vanilla bean

3 tbsp almond flakes

*

This delicious cake is a bit more time consuming and difficult to make but brings a certain feeling of satisfaction and pride when finished successfully, of course along with satisfaction of your taste buds:

Sift the flour, sugar and salt together. Add the butter, cut in small cubes, along with the water and knead the mixture until it forms thick dough. Transfer the dough into a plastic bag and put it in a fridge to rest for about half an hour. You can peel and cut the apples while waiting for the dough to rest.

After half an hour preheat the oven to about 220-250C. Take a pie plate, lightly grease the plate with butter and cover the bottom with sugar fully, so no surface is seen, add the vanilla extract. Place the pie plate in the oven and let the sugar caramelize for about 15 mins. The sugar should melt and have a slightly brown color. Towards the end of the caramelizing, take out the dough from the fridge and roll it into a circle shape. Take the pie plate carefully out of the oven and place the apple slices around to form a circle, fill the rest with more apple slices. Sprinkle a bit of sugar over the apples and add a few thin slices of butter. Cover the apples with the dough, tuck the ends of the dough down inside the pie plate (NOT outside), pressing it firmly so that the filling is completely sealed in. Prick the dough a few times with fork so that steam can get out while baking. Bake the cake for about 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Afterward take it out from the oven and let it cool off. Place a dinner plate over the top of the cake and turn it upside down. This can get a bit messy, so be extra cautious. Once flipped over, you can sprinkle some almond flakes over the top. Tip: You can make this cake also with pears. Serve with creme fraiche, whipped cream or ice cream as you prefer.

Bon Appetit!