For The Absolute Best Tarte Tatin, Julia Child Used This Apple Variety

The French chef who loved Chinese food and Goldfish crackers knew how to get playful. But, when it came to French classics like tarte tatin, Julia Child was highly selective about her ingredients. When she made this traditional dessert, nothing but Golden Delicious apples would do.

If you've never made it before, apple tarte tatin (which Child described as "a famous upside-down apple cake" in her 1989 cookbook "The Way to Cook") is essentially an amalgam of caramelized apple slices arranged in an aesthetically-pleasing pattern and covered in a layer of flaky, tender, golden-brown puff pastry crust. After baking, the tart is carefully turned upside-down so that the layer of puff pastry is at the bottom of the neatly arranged apple dome, which is held together structurally by a gooey layer of rich, thick caramel.

Admittedly, Golden Delicious isn't always a bakers' first choice for cooking due to their ultra-soft texture when cooked.  But Golden Delicious apples bring a sweet, rich-yet-mellow taste to the table. Even if they're want to soften considerably, they don't bake down to mush. Other tarte tatin recipes commonly call for Granny Smith apples, which feature more tartness and a much stronger, crisper structural integrity after baking. But, different types of apples work better for different recipes, and for a tarte tatin that won't stick to the pan, breaking apart during unmolding, Child said that softer Golden Delicious is the right variety for the job.

It's worth noting that the version of this recipe included in "The Way to Cook" was Child's fourth attempt at making a successful French tarte tatin. As the chef explains in the cookbook, "It can be tricky — the caramel juices can refuse to thicken, the apples can either be so loose the tart collapses when unmolded, or so stiff they stick to the pan, and so forth." The chef also includes a recipe for tarte tatin in her earlier 1975 cookbook "From Julia Child's Kitchen" and her seminal "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (1970). After much trial and error, and a considerably public research and development phase, Child's definitive recipe calls for Golden Delicious above all else," as she writes, "[T]he right apple is essential here."

To get the most out of those Golden beauties, her recipe includes specific instructions for preparing the apples. After they've been peeled, cored, and cut into quarters, instructed Child, "Toss in a bowl with the lemon [juice] and ½ cup of sugar, and let steep for 20 minutes so they will exude their juices," then drain. No one likes a soggy bottom. If you're hungry to try a taste for yourself, this sweet-savory Crispy, Caramelly Shallot and Apple Tarte Tatin is loaded with charred shallots, browned butter, sauteed fresh sage, and Brazil nuts.