The first time I ever tasted this classic, upside-down apple tart, glistening with dark brown liquid caramel and sitting on a crispy puff pastry crust, I was smitten. It didn't hurt that I had my first slice in a famous Paris pastry shop.

Tarte Tatin is my pick for sweetening up your Valentine's Day meal. The story goes that two sisters who ran Hotel Tatin were making traditional apple tarts, but one of the sisters dropped a pie on the floor, turned it over, and served it as Tarte Tatin. It has other folklore stories attached to its history, but I love the idea of rescuing a dessert into a new variation that has received international acclaim through the years.

I have been making French tarts since I graduated from Le Cordon Bleu decades ago. I always thought Tarte Tatin would be too complicated to make at home. It didn't seem Seriously Simple to me. How could something this fantastic be easy to make? Turns out that it is easy to prepare with only a few ingredients, as long as you don't mind peeling and coring some apples.

I recently decided to retest my old recipe to see if home cooks could master the technique and the recipe with good results. It took me three tries to get it right, and I learned a lot along the way.

First of all, make sure to use either a cast-iron skillet or a non-stick skillet for ease in reversing the tart. Second, I tried different store-bought frozen puff pastries. I recommend an all-butter variety. You'll need to completely defrost it before rolling it out for best results.

Another challenge: the apples. I tried Pippin apples, and my dessert went from Tarte Tatin to Apple Sauce Tart! The apples were too soft when I cooked them. I tried Golden Delicious and still found them to be too soft after baking. Finally, I selected Macintosh and found this variety held up best on the two-step baking process.

Lots of recipes call for quartering the apples, but I like to halve them for a pretty presentation. Once you figure out how to stand the apple halves up and arrange them on the outer rim of your pan, you are in business! Make sure they hug each other tightly, because apples give up space as they cook and you want the tart to look bountiful.

I like to present the tart on a cake stand, and it helps to have someone assist you in reversing it. To serve, accompany with whipped cream, creme fraiche or French vanilla ice cream. Don't worry if there is a lot left over. It's amazing how fast it will disappear, and it's pretty yummy for breakfast the next day.

Tarte Tatin

Serves 6 to 8

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