The Classic French Pie Invented On Accident By A Busy Innkeeper

There are numerous French desserts people believe were created by accident, such as chocolate ganache (an apprentice mistakenly poured boiling cream into chocolate) or crêpes Suzette (cognac the chef drizzled into the pan ignited). But when it comes to the tarte Tatin, an accident may have caused the problem, but the idea that created a storied French dessert was a deliberate attempt to rescue an apple pie error.

Many people believe tarte Tatin, a famous French apple tart baked upside down, was created when, in late-1880s France, a rushed restaurant owner named Stéphanie Tatin forgot to put a pie crust on the bottom of her pie plate before arranging the apples. According to the story, she put the crust on top instead, and when she flipped the pie over before serving it, the apples had deliciously caramelized. The dish became instantly popular.

Despite the appeal of this theory, it may be a legend. Stéphanie and her sister, Caroline Tatin, as managers of a well-known restaurant, may have just popularized a dish that had previously existed, as claimed by French food historian Henri Delétang, who spent decades researching the famous French dessert. In fact, some theories suggest that the tart already had a solid following when the sisters opened their hotel, called the Hôtel Tatin, in 1894.

Many people think of apple pie as a quintessential American dish, yet apple pies have existed in parts of Europe since as early as the 14th century, though they took a different form and generally didn't contain sugar. And though there are recipes for upside-down apple pie, the French tarte Tatin version is, as the name suggests, a tart.

Pies and tarts often use different styles of crust. A tart crust is typically made from a type of pastry dough that's firm and crumbly, called pâte sablée, which is more like a shortbread dough than crushed cookies or crackers. The crust is also only on the bottom and sometimes up the sides; a pie typically has a buttery, flaky crust on the top, bottom, or both or a graham cracker crust (or similar) on the bottom or up the sides. Tarte Tatin can also use puff pastry or even flaky pie dough. Unlike a pie, the apples are always cooked beneath the pastry, and the tart is then flipped to reveal the caramelized apples.

Making a tarte Tatin, especially the pastry dough, requires a bit of effort, but it's also the key to understanding how Stéphanie's mistake could have happened. First, you have to caramelize apples in a skillet with sugar and butter using firm varieties like Pink Lady or Granny Smith apples. You'd then set the skillet in the oven and bake the apples before topping them with a homemade pastry crust and baking the tart until the crust is finished. But whether or not Stéphanie's story is true, the tarte Tatin is a classic French dessert you should try.