Why It Works
- Cooking a small batch of caramelized onions down to a jammy consistency with sherry, chicken stock, and thyme reinforces the French onion soup flavors in the tart, while also providing a binder to fill in the gaps between the onion wedges.
- Layering butter, a little sugar, salt and pepper, and onion wedges in an unheated skillet makes it easier to build the tart and achieve consistent results.
- Unmolding the tart before it has fully cooled ensures that the onions don't stick to the skillet.
The arrival of colder weather means it's time to get back to comforting hearty food, and the French have that category covered. When I was planning my meals for a trip to Paris over the holidays, my mind started wandering to classic bistro dishes like steak au poivre.
These daydreaming moments often end up as recipe brainstorming sessions for me, and I soon had an idea stuck in my mind: What if I mashed upFrench onion soupand classic tarte Tatin into a savory onion tart with the flavors of the classic soup?
Full disclosure: I don't love French onion souporapple tarte Tatin. I usually find the soup to be way too heavy, and I'm over it after a few bites. And I'm not a big fan of soft, cooked apples, especially when they get sweetened even more with caramel. But this tart idea I could get behind.
I love the interplay of bitter and sweet in caramelized onions, and who doesn't love a buttery tart crust? Throw in some gooey Gruyère and meaty stock and I am all in. So I got to work to figure out the best way to make this delicious Francostein monster.
The Crust: Pie or Puff?
For the crust of a tarte Tatin, you can decide whether to make the dough from scratch, or take the quick and easy route by usingfrozen puff pastry.I'm not a professional baker, nor am I here to throw shade at the store-bought crowd, but I will happily push the BraveTart agenda: Stella'sold-fashioned flaky pie doughmakes the best French onion tarte Tatin.
I tested with both throughout the recipe development process, and tasters unanimously preferred tarts made with pie dough over puff pastry. The pie dough tarts were more cohesive; the crust has structure and a pleasant chew, and it melds seamlessly with the caramelized onions and melty Gruyère cheese.
The puff pastry versions are a little more disjointed: The onions don't set in the pastry as well during the baking process, and the less-porous puff pastry traps more steam from the onions, which hinders browning and makes them softer in the process. That said, the tart is still real tasty even when made with puff pastry. And the process for preparing the crust is pretty much the same for both pie dough and puff pastry.
I start by rolling out the dough (half a batch of Stella's pie dough or one sheet of thawed puff pastry) on a well-floured board until it's large enough to cut out a 10-inch round. An inverted skillet (the same one you will use for the tart itself) is a good guide for trimming the dough circle.
Brush off excess flour from the dough and, with the help of your rolling pin, transfer the round to an inverted baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Working around the edge of the dough, fold over a 1/2-inch border of dough, pinching it together to form a raised rim, which will help keep the onions contained and in place for the tart. Once you have completed this step, your crust should be nine inches in diameter.
It's important to "dock" the dough (baking-speak for poking holes in it) to allow some steam to escape during baking; cut three slits in the crust if using pie dough, and for puff pastry you can poke the round all over with a fork. Pop the sheet tray in the fridge to chill the dough while you work on the onion filling.
The Onions: Sweet, Small, or Savory?
For hisFrench onion soup recipe, Daniel recommends going with a mix of allium varieties for a soup with the most complex flavor. I briefly entertained the idea of trying to mix and match alliums for this tart, but realized early on that it would just further complicate an already involved recipe. I needed to simplify as much as possible and go with one type of onion, so I began testing with Daniel's recommended all-purpose variety: yellow onions.
Unlike Goldilocks, I quickly realized that my first choice was just right. Yellow onions have a middle-of-the-road allium flavor, neither too sweet nor too harsh, and a relatively low moisture content that makes them great for caramelizing, and their manageable size ended up being ideal for tart-building.
After spending way too long peeling dozens of cute cipollini and shallots for initial test tarts, I knew it would be cruel to subject people to that tear-inducing monotony. I wanted something more appealing and less a-peeling. With tiny alliums out of contention, I ran a side-by-side test comparing tarts made with yellow onions and Vidalias, and as suspected, the Vidalia tarte Tatin veered into too-sweet territory.
The Filling: Caramel or Caramelized?
Once I had the winning onion, I had to figure out the amount to use, and three small-ish yellow onions ended up fitting the bill (look for onions that weight about half a pound each, and are about 3 inches in diameter). I knew that I needed larger onion pieces with a flat surface to stand in for the fruit in a classic Tatin, so I started by cutting two onions into wedges through the root end, keeping the root attached but trimming off the scraggly part at the very end. Two onions will give you 16 wedges, the perfect amount for fitting into a 10-inch skillet.
In a classic Tatin, the fruit releases pectin-rich juices as it cooks on the stovetop, creating a glossy, sticky caramel with the butter and sugar in the skillet, which then binds the fruit together in the tart. Onions aren't as rich in pectin as apples, and don't cook down as readily, so I needed to find a way to recreate that binding effect without making the tart overly sweet in the process.
For my first round of testing, I tried two different methods to achieve this result. One was to make a wet caramel, using onion juice (purée raw onions with a little water, or use a juicer) instead of water, that I then loosened with chicken stock. This was a little trick I had picked up from one of the restaurants I worked at, where we made an onion caramel-chickenjus.
When the onion caramel is combined with an intense restaurant-style jus, everything works together—the sweetness of the caramel balanced by the savory intensity of the ultra-reduced, wine-fortified stock. This quick at-home version ended up being too sweet, because store-bought chicken stock doesn't have enough savory intensity to stand up to the caramel. This tart wasn't meant to be dessert, so I ditched the onion caramel.
My second approach was to make a jammy caramelized onion filling to nestle into the negative space between the onion wedges in the tart. I needed to also find a way to incorporate the other flavors of French onion soup—meaty stock, sherry, thyme—into the tart, and this caramelized onion mixture proved to be the vehicle for those flavors, too.
Start by thinly slicing the third onion, and sweating it in a saucepan with a little butter. Normally, I like to take the time to slowly cook a proper batch ofcaramelized onions, but when you're only cooking one onion, you can speed up the process.
Lightly season the onion with salt to help coax out its liquid, and cook it over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. The onions will begin to stick and form a brown fond on the bottom of the pan, which you'll loosen by adding a tablespoon or two of water at a time and scraping up the brown bits from the bottom and sides of the pot.
Keep repeating this process until the onions are soft, sweet, and a deep golden brown, and then deglaze them one last time with dry sherry instead of water. Next, add in some stock (chicken or beef, more on that in a minute), and cook it down until the onions are jammy, and the liquid has reduced to just coat the onions.
Finish them with a splash of cider vinegar and fish sauce (an optional background savory boost), and some chopped thyme leaves. Once there is very little liquid left in the saucepan, set the onions aside to cool while you build the tart.
The Stock: Chicken or Beef?
A quick aside on what kind of stock you should use for this tart. The short answer: whichever meaty stock you have available. I tested with ourhomemade beef stockas well as with two varieties of store-bought chicken and beef stocks.
They all worked, and tasters were not able to distinguish between them, which makes sense seeing as there is very little stock that goes into the onions (compared with the amount that goes into a batch of French onion soup). For store-bought stock, just make sure you go with a low-sodium option, or else you will have to be much more careful with seasoning so that the tart doesn't end up too salty.
The Skillet: Stainless Steel or Cast Iron?
For building the tart, you will need a 10-inch skillet that needs to be oven-safe. You can decide whether to use cast iron or stainless steel, depending on your eyesight and arm-strength. You need to be able to keep an eye on how dark the sugar gets as it caramelizes in the skillet, and this is much easier to track on the shiny grey of stainless steel than on the black matte finish of cast iron.
After baking, you also need to be able to invert the skillet over a plate. Cast iron is a lot heavier than stainless steel, so it's worth testing your comfort with some skillet bicep curls before you start building your tart.
Despite being heavier and harder to see into, cast iron does achieve deeper and more even caramelization on the onions in the tart. If you can bear the weight, I'd recommend going with cast iron. Stainless steel won't let you down though, and can still give you excellent tart results. Unfortunately, due to their flared shape, 10-inch carbon steel skillet don't have as much surface area as most stainless or cast iron skillets, so they can't be swapped in without altering the recipe.
Once you have your skillet of choice, smear it with a few tablespoons of softened butter and then evenly sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar over the butter.
After a light seasoning of salt and pepper, I arrange the onion wedges in a tight formation in the skillet, making sure they are in even contact with the pan. Arranging them in an unheated pan is way easier than trying to nestle in the onions after melting the butter and sugar together in a skillet. As you may have noticed in one of the photo collages above, I tested tarts using Stella'stoasted sugarto see if it would lead to deeper flavor and more even caramelization. With only one tablespoon of sugar in the recipe, the effects weren't noticeable. If you have a batch of toasted sugar kicking around in your pantry, you can certainly use it, but it won't make or break the tart.
Cook the onion wedges on high heat, without stirring the skillet, until the sugar turns a deep amber color. Stove burners don't heat evenly, so you will need to move the skillet around to promote even browning.
Spoon the caramelized onion mixture in the spaces between the onion wedges, and continue cooking just long enough to meld everything together.
Top the onions with a handful of shredded Gruyère, and then pop the dough lid over the whole deal. You don't want the crust to be sticking to the sides of the skillet, as that will make it hard to unmold after baking.
If you want some subtle acidity and bite in your tart, you can spread some Dijon mustard on the underside of the crust before you place it in the skillet. I tested the tarts with and without mustard, and liked how the subtle heat of the mustard offsets some of the sweetness from the onions.
The Bake and the Flip: Golden or Dark, Cool or Warm?
I found that it's important to bake the crust to a deep golden brown for this tart. If you pull it out of the oven while the crust is still blond, it will turn soggy once the tart has been inverted and has to support the weight of the onions. So let the crust take on plenty of color before you take the tart out of the oven.
Unfortunately, the most stressful part of the recipe comes at the very end, when it's time to invert the skillet to release the tart onto a plate. While it may be tempting to let the tart cool completely in the skillet before attempting the flip, don't. If you let the tart cool for too long, the sugar will harden, and unmolding will become a lot trickier.
Let the skillet cool for just a few minutes, and then get your flip on. The key here is confidence. Know that it will release, and you will be a tart champion. Get a large plate, secure it over the skillet, and then invert it confidently. Let gravity do its thing, rather than trying to shake it loose if it doesn't release instantly. You'll feel it when the plate gets heavier, and you uncover your masterpiece.
As with your bags in an overhead luggage bin, some onions may have shifted during flight, so now is the time to rearrange any that have fallen out of place. Slide the tart onto a wire rack to finish cooling (otherwise you risk steaming the bottom crust). Once the tart has cooled down, you're good to slice, but make sure you show off your tart skills to guests before serving. Then blow everyone away with your French soup in a tart costume.
October 2019
Recipe Details
French Onion Soup Tarte Tatin Recipe
Prep25 mins
Cook85 mins
Active90 mins
Chilling Time2 hrs 30 mins
Total4 hrs 20 mins
Serves8to 10 servings
Ingredients
1/2 batch old-fashioned flaky pie dough or 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
3 medium yellow onions(about 1 1/2 pounds; 680g) (see notes)
4 tablespoons (2 ounces; 56g) unsalted butter, softened, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon (15ml) dry sherry (such as Amontillado)
3/4 cup (180ml) homemade chicken or beef stock, or store-bought, low-sodium chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon Asian fish sauce (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon (2g) chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon (15g) sugar
2 ounces (56g) Gruyère cheese, grated
2 tablespoons (30ml) Dijon mustard (optional)
Freshly sliced chives, for garnish
Directions
If using pie dough: Prepare old-fashioned flaky pie dough according to the recipe. After rolling, folding, and dividing dough in half, roll one portion into a 10-inch round. Transfer to a large, flat plate lined with parchment, or another similar arrangement. Working around circumference, fold 1/2 inch of dough over itself and pinch to create 9-inch round with raised rim. Cut three 2-inch slits in center of dough, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24. (If refrigerating overnight, cover dough with plastic.)
If using puff pastry: Roll puff pastry out so that you are able to cut a 10-inch round (you can use an inverted 10-inch skillet as a guide for cutting the round). Transfer to a large, flat plate lined with parchment, or another similar arrangement. Working around circumference, fold 1/2 inch of dough over itself and pinch to create 9-inch round with raised rim. Poke the pastry all over with a fork, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 400°F (200°C). Using a sharp knife, trim stem end of onions and halve onions from root end to stem end; peel and discard skin. For two of the onions, trim away the scraggly end of the root, while keeping the light-colored part intact, then cut each half into 4 wedges through the root end to keep wedges intact (giving you 16 wedges total). Set wedges aside. Thinly slice remaining onion.
In a 3-quart saucier or small skillet, melt 1 tablespoon (15g) butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add sliced onion, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring frequently and adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water at a time when onions begin to stick and threaten to scorch, until onions are very sweet and a rich golden-brown color, about 15 minutes.
Add sherry, and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom and sides of the saucier. Add stock, bring to a simmer, and cook at a steady simmer until onions are jammy, and liquid has thickened and reduced to just coat the onions, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in fish sauce (if using), vinegar, and thyme. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, smear remaining butter over bottom of 10-inch oven-safe skillet, sprinkle sugar in even layer over butter, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Arrange onion wedges in a tight circular pattern around edge of skillet, with root ends pointed inward toward center of skillet, making sure wedges are in even contact with skillet. Tuck remaining onion wedges into center of skillet.
Place skillet over high heat, and cook, without stirring, until onions have softened slightly and butter-sugar mixture has turned a dark amber color, 8 to 10 minutes. (Rotate skillet over burner as necessary to encourage even browning.) Reduce heat to medium, spoon caramelized onions into empty spaces between the onion wedges, and continue to cook for 1 minute longer. Turn off heat, and sprinkle Gruyère evenly over onions. Spread mustard evenly over prepared dough or pastry (if using), and carefully place round over onions (mustard-side down), making sure it is centered and not touching the sides of the skillet. Bake until crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer skillet to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and let cool for 5 minutes.
Place a large plate over the skillet, carefully invert tart onto plate, then slide tart onto wire rack. Rearrange any onion pieces that may have shifted during unmolding, and let tart cool for 30 minutes. Cut into wedges, sprinkle with chives, and serve.
Special Equipment
10-inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet
Notes
Try to find onions that weigh approximately 8 ounces (225g) each and are around 3 inches (7 1/2 cm) in diameter.
Make-Ahead and Storage
The tart is best enjoyed the same day it is made. The pie dough round can be made in advance, and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. The caramelized onion mixture can be made up to three days in advance, and refrigerated in an airtight container; bring to room temperature before using.
- Savory
- Vegetables
- French
- Onions