Sugarfree Apple Tarte Tartin

Sugarfree Apple Tarte Tartin
Recipe Source: 

Ingredients

SugarFree Pate Brisee Crust

  • 1 14 c all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp Lite&Sweet
  • 12 c (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 14 c ice water

Filling

  • 7-8 medium-size apples (Cortlands, Empire, Braeburn or Golden Delicious)
  • 1 lemon
  • 12 c (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 c Lite&Sweet
  • 3 Tbsp water 

Directions

To Make Crust:

  1. Put flour, salt, and Lite&Sweet in bowl of a food processor, and pulse to combine.
  2. Add butter, and process for about 10 seconds, or just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  3. Add ice water, tablespoon by tablespoon (14 cup), through the feed tube with machine running, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky.
  4. Test the dough by squeezing it together. If it is crumbly, add a bit more water. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap by using the rolling pin to flatten into disk. Chill until needed.

To Make Filling:

  1. Halve and core the apples. Set aside one half for the center of the tart. Quarter the rest of the fruit and transfer to a large bowl. Squeeze the lemon over the apple slices and set aside.
  2. In a 9-inch cast-iron skillet, add butter and cook in medium-high heat until it starts to browns. Add Lite&Sweet and water to butter and bring the mixture to a boil, immediately reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 more minutes until the mixture begins to thicken and turn amber.
  3. Place reserved apple half in center of the skillet and decoratively arrange remaining apple slices with the cut side up in skillet around the center apple piece. Continue to layer the slices until the skillet is filled. (if fruit doesn’t fill the pan, tart will collapse when inverted).
  4. Return skillet to stove and cook over low heat for 20 minutes until syrup thickens and is reduced. Do not let the syrup burn. Remove from heat and let it cool.

To Make Tartin:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Roll out crust to a 18 inch thick and place it over apples. Tuck edges inside skillet and trim any extra-long pieces.
  3. Bake tart 20 minutes, until pastry is light gold. Let cool on a rack for 15-20 minutes, then loosen the pastry from pan using a sharp knife. Place a serving dish or platter over the tart and quickly invert. Serve immediately with sugarfree whipping cream. 

Notes

Variations: Substitute apples for pears or peaches. Peel the pears, peaches may be peeled or not, as desired.

There are many, many ways to bake a tarte tartin. I have had varying degrees of success with other methods, but this one seems to work best for me and I love how no one will be able to tell its sugarfree.

Tarte tartin is an upside-down single-crust tart. The fruit is cooked in a butter-and-sugar mixture, but I am making a healthier guilt-free dessert by eliminating the sugar by substituting with Lite&Sweet.

The difference with this dessert is that we amber brown the butter first, and then we add the sweetener xylitol/erythritol to make a sweet caramel sauce for the fruit.  We cook it all in a heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet, cool slightly, cover with the sugarfree pate brisee crust and bake until the pastry is browned and the fruit is caramelized.

After tart is cooled for 20 minutes or so, reverse onto a serving platter. Because of the reversal, it is important to arrange the fruit decoratively and neatly while preparing the tart. For a traditional tarte tartin apple recipe I suggest using Cortlands, Empire, Braeburn or the Golden Delicious varieties.

Contributor

Glaucia Jones

Glaucia Jones grew up in a Brazilian family, where she learned at an early age to lead a healthy lifestyle through nutritious cuisine. As a child she watched her relatives prepare culinary masterpieces from scratch. At a young age she followed her passion for food and television by interning at ABC 4 Utah cooking segments and also developed recipes for corporations during her college years. Jones has always had a passion for healthy living and found herself determined to find better food ingredients for herself and her young family.