Not Your Mother's Sweet Potato Pie

While we're still deconstructing Thanksgiving -- and mine was pretty fabulous BTW -- I should confess that the marshmallow meringue sweet potato pie that was being fast tracked to Turkey Day never made it to the head of the dessert table. At the very last minute, (and probably due to the same proclivities that kept me single for 40 years), another sweet potato dessert caught my eye and, the sweet tooth being weak, I yielded to temptation. It's what happens when I read food porn (that's any cookbook with pictures) late at night.

This recipe for Sweet Potato Tart Tatin, (that's "tart" without an "e," presumably because this dessert is as American as the sweet potato), comes from DamGoodSweet, a book of "New Orleans style desserts," by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel. Don't know them and haven't tried anything else from this cookbook but, judging by this dish, it looks promising.

If you can call a sweet potato dish sophisticated, this is it: sweet potatoes, sliced thin, layered on top of a rich French caramel, and covered with buttery puff pastry. This is sweet potatoes all grown-up and going to the prom. And the best part? I get to use one of my cast iron skillets. I always feel more authentic when I use a cast iron skillet.

A few preparation tips. Choose long, slender potatoes of relatively even width (about three medium). For slicing I prefer to use my Cuisinart equipped with the slicing disc, but a mandoline slicer would also work nicely. Unless you really want to make your own puff pastry, (get a life already), I recommend using store-bought frozen puff pastry sheets. They're quite good and nobody will know the difference unless you tell them. Finally, once removed from the heat, caramel hardens quickly. Pour fast and spread evenly. If it gets too stiff to spread, set the skillet over the burner for a few seconds to soften.

It may not be a Tart (no 'e') Tatin in the strictest sense of the word, (unless you consider the sweet potato a fruit, and who am I to judge), but it is delicious. Sweet enough, but not too sweet, (Seriously, where I come from most people would consider this a side dish.), served warm or chilled, with ice cream, whipped cream or unadorned; this is not your Mother's sweet potato pie. But it might be yours.


Sweet Potato Tart Tatin

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for pastry
1/4 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8-inch thick rounds
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out one sheet of defrosted puff pastry. On floured surface, roll lightly to blend in any seams. Cut out a 10-inch circle. Transfer pastry circle to a parchment lined baking sheet, prick all over with a fork and refrigerate until needed.

Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan. Partially cover and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Cook, partially covered, 3 or 4 minutes or until syrup is clear and bubbling. Remove cover and cook until mixture is a light butterscotch color and the temperature reaches 320 degrees. Turn off the heat (the mixture will continue to cook) and measure the temperature until it reaches 350 degrees (this will only take a few minutes), whisk in the butter, a few cubes at a time, thoroughly blending after each. Stir in the vanilla and the salt. Pour quickly into a 10-inch cast iron skillet, spreading evenly across the bottom.

Layer the sliced potatoes over the caramel, starting in the center and overlapping in a spiraling outward circle as you go. Top with the puff pastry, tucking it in round the edges of the skillet.

Mix the egg and the milk together and brush over pastry. Then dust with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake about 40 to 45 minutes, until the edges are brown and the pastry is puffed and golden. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes (up to an hour). Invert onto a large plate -- make sure it's larger than 10 inches in diameter as there will be some liquid on the bottom -- and serve.

I really, really love this "pie."

Better Than Apple Pie

So I'm making "my" now famous Beouf Bourguinon, (sorry about that, Julia), for dinner with friends this weekend, and it occurs to me that I need a really good, but not complicated, dessert to show off and finish off the meal -- maybe something French, fallish and fruity -- when I remember seeing this recipe for Tarte Tatin, (that's an upside down apple tart), in the October issue of Cooking Light magazine. Sounds perfect, and it was.

I confess that I've never been a big apple pie fan and, to be completely honest, apples aren't near the top of my list when it comes to favorite fruits. However, I do like caramel, and pastry, and you really can't argue with the wonderful fragrance baking apples send throughout the house; all reasons enough to give it a try. Plus, I'm always looking for an opportunity to use my cast iron skillet, an implement I consider to be one of the most under-rated and under-used pieces of hardware in any kitchen.

The dessert itself is very easy to prepare. The only tricky part is getting it out of the pan after baking. If you try to invert it onto the plate too soon you'll end up with a syrupy mess, (and you'll probably burn your hands as well), and if you let it sit too long, the caramelized sugar will harden and it won't come out of the pan. (If this happens, return it to the oven for a few minutes to loosen.) Worst case, the pastry will release and leave the apples in the pan, which isn't exactly a disaster because you can always scoop them out with a spatula, pop them onto the crust and pat them into place. Nobody will know the difference, nor will they care once they taste this little slice of apple heaven.

It's not your Mom's apple pie. Heck, it's not even American. But once you're tried it you'll never settle for plain old apple pie again.

Oh, and about that Cooking Light part? You knew it was too good to be true, didn't you? The magazine gives the calorie count at 275 calories per serving for TEN servings! Er, better make that ten SLIVERS. This tart will serve SIX, assuming everybody has what any normal food loving human being would consider an average size portion. So let's just say it makes six servings at 458 1/3 calories each. And it's worth every one of them.

TARTE TATIN

Pastry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 or 3 tablespoons water
1 large egg

Filling
1 cup sugar
2 pounds Golden Delicious apples (5 large or 6 small) cored and cut into six slices each
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Creme fraiche (to serve on top)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut butter into flour and salt with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Whisk together 2 tablespoons water with the egg and add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist. (If too stiff, add additional 1 tablespoon water.)

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times. Pat dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and let chill at least 30 minutes.

Combine 1/4 cup water and sugar in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar caramelizes and is golden in color. Remove from heat, tilting pan to evenly distribute cooked sugar, and let stand 5 minutes.

Arrange apple slices tightly in a circular pattern over sugar. Place pan over medium heat and cook 20 minutes, pressing down on apples slightly to extract juices. Remove from heat, sprinkle with cinnamon, and let stand for 10 minutes.

Turn dough onto floured surface and roll into an 11-inch circle. Place over apple mixture, fitting dough between apples and skillet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 10 to 15 minutes. Invert tart onto a plate.

Serve with creme fraiche. It really is better than apple pie.