Tarte Tatin in Vanilla Bean Custard Sauce {French Caramel Apple Tart)

Tarte Tatin, the famed French caramel apple tart is a classic. No matter how perfect or imperfect it looks on the plate, a tarte tatin will taste heavenly. Pastry dough is placed over the top of caramelized apples and then baked in the oven. The tart is then inverted to reveal the buttery caramel soaked apples in all their glory. It is especially delicious served with scoops of ice cream or my vanilla bean custard sauce.

Tarte Tatin

Ingredients:

10 green apples (peeled) 

1 9-inch pie crust dough (or store bought if you’re lazy like me) 

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (optional)

Directions:

Peel, cut (in half) and core apples. Set aside.

In a 9-inch saucepan (with metal handle), melt butter and stir in sugar, salt and vanilla bean paste. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon. The sugar will melt and start to form a caramel sauce. It’s OK if there is a layer of butter floating on top. Don’t worry – it's not a dig deal.

Once the caramel has turned a light brown color, lower the flame to a simmer and carefully place all the apples in the saucepan. Make sure to evenly coat the apples with the caramel. Let the apples simmer for 10 minutes or so – stir occasionally.

Fun part. Use two forks to stack the apples on their sides (as if they were piggy backing each other – see picture). Make sure to fill your entire pan. Place a few apples in the center to fill the hole.

Place the 9 inch pie crust over the top of the apples and tuck the edges in.

Place in a 400 degree oven on the top rack and bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Be sure to place a tray on the rack below to catch any juices that may boil over.

Take the tarte tatin out of the oven and wait for it to cool before flipping. Place a plate over the top of the saucepan and flip it quickly to avoid any sugary juices from dripping out. 

Drizzle with vanilla bean custard sauce.

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While the tart is cooling, you can prepare the custard sauce.

Vanilla Bean Custard Sauce

Ingredients: 

2 cups whipping cream 

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

4 large egg yolks

6 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Place whipping cream in a saucepan. Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste.  Bring cream to simmer. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a metal bowl to blend. Whisk in hot cream. Return mixture to saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens. About 5 minutes.  Do not boil or scald the sauce. Cover and refrigerate custard sauce until cold, about 3 hours.

(This can be prepared 1 day ahead if desired. Keep refrigerated.)

Chocolate Éclairs With Vanilla Bean Custard Filling

I love making these...they are actually easier than you would think. As soon as I make them they're gone. Everyone loves chocolate éclairs!

Ingredients

Pastry:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs

Filling:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 6 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Chocolate Icing

• 2 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons hot water

Directions

Pastry:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter melts completely. Reduce heat to low, and add flour and salt. Stir vigorously until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and begins to form a stiff ball. Remove from heat.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to incorporate completely after each addition.

With a spoon or a pastry bag fitted with a No. 10, or larger, tip, spoon or pipe dough onto cookie sheet in 1 1/2 x 4 inch strips.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and bake 20 minutes more, until hollow sounding when lightly tapped on the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Poke a hole on one end of each éclair (for the filling) and set aside until your custard is ready.

Custard Filling:

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated.

Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the saucepan. Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly.

Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 20 minutes or until the custard is cool enough to be spooned into a piping bag to fill your éclairs.

*Filling techniques. I like to use a pastry piping bag, but if you don't have one handy, you can also use a Ziploc bag and cut one corner off. When filling the pastries, be sure to tap them on the counter to make sure the custard is distributed the whole length.

Chocolate Icing:

Melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in 1 cup of sifted confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until icing is smooth and has reached desired consistency. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and dip the top of each filled éclair into the chocolate icing. Refrigerate until serving.

This is an altered and combined version of two separate recipes found on Allrecipes and Foodnetwork.
Picture by: A Bit of Bees Knees

 

Vanilla Bean Toffee Popcorn

 My neighbor made this the other day and I'm crazy for it! I asked for the recipe and added my own twist (vanilla bean). Right after I took these photos, I brought the popcorn to a friend's party. Someone said it was like "being kissed by heaven." This is SERIOUSLY good stuff. Here is a step-by-step guide. Super easy. I'm loving how you can see the cute little specks of vanilla (but, if you don't have a vanilla bean handy, extract will do just fine)!

Ingredients:

8 cups of popped popcorn (2 microwave bags of popcorn are perfect)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or one vanilla bean scraped if you've got it)

*****

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 300F

Place 8 cups of popcorn in a large deep bowl. (I used Orville Redenbacher's Buttered Popcorn) Make sure that no unpopped kernels fall into the bowl!

Split one vanilla bean (lengthwise) and scrap out the vanilla caviar with your knife. Add the vanilla caviar to the brown sugar and mix it in with your fingers, to break-up the clumps of vanilla.

now...

Cook over a medium heat while stirring:

1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of light corn syrup in a pot over medium heat.

* Hold the baking soda until later...

Bring the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup to a boil. Keep stirring!

Now, let it sit for 5 minutes WITHOUT stirring. It will begin to look like this...

Remove from the heat and add your 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. This is when the magic happens!

Stir until you get this creamy looking color.

Now pour that heavenly stuff onto your popcorn. Stir until the popcorn is evenly coated.

Place the popcorn on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or wax paper. Bake for 30 minutes at 300F.

After 30 minutes, take it out of the oven and place it on a windowsill or someplace where it can cool off.

The toffee should harden in 5-10 minutes.

Once it has cooled off, break the popcorn into bite-size pieces and enjoy!