Quel Malheur!

It’s often the simplest dishes that warm our hearts, fill our tummies with happiness and transport us back to our childhood. In this series, WORK is taking a look at some classic dishes from around the world that will make your mouth water. Here's the legendary “Tarte Tatin”.

Has there ever been a cake been honoured with a feature-length documentary film? Probably not. How about a torte that has its own ambassador and an exclusive Facebook page? Also unlikely. After all, there are very few desserts that have a story like the legendary French Tarte Tatin. Documentary filmmaker Xavier Gasselin decided to make a 52-minute film dedicated to this treat. He was supported by local amateur historians from the “Groupe de Recherches Archéologiques et Historiques de Sologne“ (“Grahs”) and the “Ambassadeurs de la Tarte Tatin”.

A happy mistake

Like all good stories, the story of the Tarte Tatin begins with an unexpected twist – in the most literal sense of the word. It all happened over 130 years ago in the quiet village of Lamotte-Beuvron in Sologne, around 140 kilometres to the south of Paris. Sisters Caroline and Stéphanie Tatin inherited the charming Hotel Maison Tatin and its restaurant (both of which are still open today) from their father. One day, a large hunting party from Paris came to the restaurant to enjoy an opulent dinner. For dessert they were supposed to be served the house speciality – an apple cake with caramel sauce on the top.

How misfortune became happiness

While Caroline served the guests, Stéphanie,the younger of the two sisters, was hard at work in the kitchen. With all the excitement and stress caused by the many guests, she forgot to add the pastry to the cake tin and put it in the oven with just the apples. When she noticed her mistake, she decided to simply put the shortcrust pastry on top of the apples, bake the cake like that and then flip it over before serving.

The result? A unique dessert with juicy apples (tarter varieties are best) that were beautifully caramelised on top and a pastry that hadn’t gone soggy. The guests loved the cake so much that the sisters always cooked their famous cake upside down from then on.