Gluten-Free Peach Tarte Tatin

Today I’m celebrating happiness – that, and gluten-free peach tarte tatin. There’s no real reason I should be happy since it’s been pouring rain all day, but there you have it. Some days are just like that. Some days are just peachy. 😉

Tarte is pronounced like its English counterpart. Tatin is a bit harder. Tah … and then the tin part is like a child whining waa. Tah-taa (with an accent on the taa with just a hint of an ‘n’). Got it?

Yeah, I know. Not the best explanation but it’s the best I’ve got.

According to this website, Tarte Tatin came from the end of the 19th century in a city called Sologne. Caroline and Stéphanie Tatin accidentally cooked their tarte too quickly so that it started to burn. In order to protect the apples, which were now starting to caramelise, they flipped the pie upside down so that the crust would protect the caramelised apples from scorching. They served it at their restaurant and a national gastronomic passion was born.

I decided to make this dish because I had bought peaches, not realising they were already out of season. We bit into two and found that they were mealy and tasteless and were not fit for fresh consumption. I modified my recipe from Lady Figaro. 

It helps a lot to have a silicone cake mold because you’re going to flip the tarte upside down as soon as it comes out of the oven. I went out and bought one because I have plenty of experience with cakes and tartes (particularly gooey ones) refusing to flip.

Butter the pan generously.

To make the pâte (the crust), put 125 grams of butter in the cuisinart. That’s about a half-cup. Add 1/3 cup of ground almonds, a half-cup confectioner sugar, 2 cups of a prepared mix of gluten-free (or regular) flour, a teaspoon of large grain sea salt, and an egg.

Blend until it forms a ball.

Roll it out very thickly, to a diameter that’s only slightly thicker than the cake pan. Like so.

Take five fresh, luscious, juicy peaches (or five mealy tasteless ones – your pick). Peel, core, and cut them into thick slices. You need to let them caramelise a bit before they go into the oven, so heat up 30 grams of butter in a sauce pan (2 Tablespoons) plus a half cup of cassonade sugar. It’s like brown sugar, except it’s granular. (Is that what castor sugar is, my British friends)?

I also added a half-teaspoon of cinnamon.

This is what they look like when they’ve cooked just a bit. They don’t need to be too cooked since they’ll spend a half-hour in the oven.

Pour them in the greased pan.

Sprinkle another 1/3 cup ground almonds on top. (I had forgotten to buy some when I was out, so I put blanched almonds in the blender and it worked perfectly).

And then cover with the crust and make it look pretty.

Smooth the edges and pinch any cracks together.

Oh, alright, it doesn’t matter all that much whether it looks pretty because it’s going to be flipped upside down.

Here it is 30 minutes later (baked at 180° C or 350° F).

Put a large plate on top of the pan right away, and flip it.

You need to do this before the caramelised fruit starts to stick to the pan.

Wow.

Isn’t that beautiful? Can you believe how easily that flipped? There were only 3 peaches left in the cake pan, which I was quickly able to stick back onto the tarte in the places that had a hole.

Sigh. Perfection. Now the close up view.

Its nice when it has that thick crust. That’s what tarte tatins are supposed to look like. Don’t mind me – I’m kind of amazed it turned out so well on my first try. Gives you hope, right? No reason why yours shouldn’t.

Wait until it’s nearly room temperature before you cut a slice. 

And then cut a slice.

And then eat the slice!

IF YOU’D LIKE MORE RECIPES, CLICK HERE TO SEE MY RECIPE INDEX.

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