Make José Pizarro's apple tatin with honey ice cream

Served with salted honey ice cream, this take on the classic French dessert is a sticky and delicious late-afternoon treat

José Pizarro apple tatin

Serves 6

Preparation time 60 mins

Cooking time 30 mins

OK, the Basque connection here might be simply that the region's famous for its apples, but with a recipe this good, we're not complaining. Pizarro gives this classic dessert a twist with delicious-tasting salted honey ice cream.

Ingredients

  • 200g caster sugar
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • A few sprigs of lemon thyme
  • 5-6 dessert apples, peeled, cored and halved
  • 500g all-butter puff pastry
  • Plain flour, to dust

For the ice cream

  • 600ml full-fat (whole) milk
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 190g runny honey
  • 6 free-range egg yolks
  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt
  • 500ml double cream

Method

The ice cream

  1. Heat the milk with the sugar until almost boiling.
  2. Combine the honey, egg yolks and salt together in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, stirring until smooth.
  3. Pour the mixture back into a clean pan, put over a medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until you have a thick, smooth custard.
  4. Pour into a bowl and, when cold, stir in the cream.
  5. Pour into an ice-cream maker and churn until set, then scoop into a container and freeze until ready to serve. If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, pour the mixture into a deep plastic container and freeze for 2 hours, then beat with an electric hand whisk to break up the crystals and freeze for a further hour. Repeat twice, then freeze until solid.

The tarte tatin

  1. Pour the sugar into a heavy-based ovenproof frying pan with a 20cm base, and add a couple of tablespoons of water.
  2. Stir to mix, then place over a low heat and cook very gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Stop stirring, increase the heat to high and bubble until you have a dark golden caramel.
  4. Add the butter, stirring quickly until smooth, then put the apples – cut side up – into the pan with the thyme.
  5. Return to a low heat and cook for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
  6. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  7. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface and cut out a round a bit bigger than the pan.
  8. Tuck the pastry over the top of the apples so it sits snuggly round the side of the pan.
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden.
  10. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before turning out onto a plate and serving with the salted honey ice cream.

'Basque: Spanish Recipes from San Sebastián and Beyond' by José Pizarro (Hardie Grant, £25.00).

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