Upside Down Apple Tart

   

I was sitting in a waiting room at the doctor's office and found a Southern Living magazine from 2010.  Really?  This is a new office that wasn't even BUILT in 2010.  So they packed up and carried an old magazine to the new office.  I guess it's because it is a Southern Living magazine.  Someone must have brought it from home because it was the only one there.  And the label had been removed.

I read it even though I had a book.  But then I always have a book.  It is a good resource for new recipes.  They had one for an Upside Down Apple Tart.  I took some notes and stopped at the store to get some apples and a pre-made pie crust.  I made changes to suit me and here we go.

Upside Down Apple Tart

4 large Granny Smith apples  ( I could have used more, but wanted to keep it small for just the two of us. We could have fed four, but we will just have it for tomorrow)
1 pre-made pie crust
3 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon

Remove one of the pie crusts (two come in a box) and set it on the counter to come to room temperature.

   

For this recipe you will need a pan that can go in the oven.  I used a medium ( number 5) cast iron pan. 

   

Melt the butter in the pan over medium heat.  Peel and slice the apples and quickly add them to the pan.  You don't want to let them sit or they will turn brown.  On the other hand you don't want to let the butter burn, so if you are slow at peeling and slicing, turn the butter to low.

Add the sugar and the cinnamon to the apples.  Just dump them right on top.  Then gently stir and turn to get all the apples coated. 

   

I turned the heat down, but if you already have it low then you can just leave it.  My burners always run hot, so just make it hot enough to cook gently without burning.  You want the apples to cook for about 30 minutes.  This will allow the apples to cook and the moisture to be reduced.  It will be mostly dry with a thick cinnamony ( yes, spell check.  I am sure that is a word.)  sauce. 

   

The lovely people at Southern Living wanted me to make a slightly sweet pie crust.  I, however didn't want to.  Remove the pan from the stove and turn the oven to 425.    Unroll the pie crust and place it over the warm apples.  Tuck the ends in around the apples.  Because I didn't make a slightly sweet pie crust, I used a bit of milk and brushed it over the top of the crust.  Then I sprinkled 1 Tablespoon of sugar all around.  Sprinkle cinnamon over everything.  Now I have the sweetened crust and it was very easy.  I highly recommend easy.

    

 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until slightly browned.  Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.  Then you want to invert the pan over a cutting board.  Because I didn't trust the tart to stay in the pan, I used one hand to hold the pan and one hand to hold a spatula over the tart while I flipped it.  The crust is now on the bottom with the sides of the crust holding everything in.

A few apples were still in the pan and I just scooped them up and added them to the top.    Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.  I intended to, but it seems like the CATS have been raiding the freezer, so we used some Cool Whip.

 

   

Cinnamon apples are always good (unless you are Tara and don't like that flavor combination for some reason) and the crust on the bottom was still nice and crispy and slightly sweet.  Cool Whip added a creaminess.  Of course, ice cream would have been nice, too.  I think.  But I don't know for sure...because of the cats.