TWD: Pink Grapefruit Tart

(I'm still on time with this post :-)

I am always a bit reluctant from making tarts because I never manage to make the dough really right. But this dough was good to handle for me, although I didn't manage to roll and fit it in the shell (it broke while transferring). So I went half rolled dough half pressing dough and it was all rigth like that. I like the texture and taste of the dough so I think I am going to stay with this recipe as often as I can.

I also like the filling of the Pink Grapefruit Tart very much. Like with many tarts, you can prepare all the parts seperately and that can be a big advantage (if you have not so much time but are organized enough to start one or two days ahead) but also a disadvantage (if you are not so organized but would have time). I started two days ahead and that gave me plenty time for all the cooling periods needed here.

I did not really get the idea of the almond-lemon cream. My cream more or less "baked in", i.e. made something like a second layer to the tart shell. Ok - but what for? First I thought it is for preventing the tart shell to get soggy. But it is also a "dough" and does not have the consistence of a chocolate or at least jam layer. Anyhow - the taste was great, so why not?

The cremeux is mervellous! I like the light pink colour and also it's taste. I don't think the pictures give the colour as bright eas it was in realiyt. I used Aperol instead of Martini because that was what I had at hand - and I don't think it makes a difference. Maybe Aperol is a bit sweeter.

Preparing the fruit topping was aweful. I don't think I would do this ever again. Even though it is clearly worth all the mess. But I am a lazy baker. And as long as I don't find canned, stripped and ready-to-use- grapefruits, I will have to use other fruits for the next try.
But - as I said - I am a very lazy baker, so if you don't mind a bit more extra effort to have a very much extra looking tart, you should try it!

Have a look at the groups page to see the wonderful results of the other bakerds and buy the book by Dorie Greenspan for getting the recipe (p. 138)

PS.: I also made kind of a Crème Bruleed Chocolate Bundt from Baking with Julia (p 280-281), but, uhm, I didn't do the Crème Brulee, so I guess it doesn't count :-)

TWD: Cranberry Crackle Tart

And again... I forgot to post :-(
When I saw that the Cranberry Crackle Tart is due already as the second recipe from the new book for Tuesdays with Dorie I was a bit afraid, because it looks wonderful on the picture but also a bit difficult.
I have to say: I was wrong. It is not half as tricky as I thought!

I made the tart with the Galette Dough and I have to say I adore this dough! It is the first tart dough I really manage. I have no idea why I never got used to tart doughs in the last five years of baking. It always kept me from doing a lot of tarts and pies although I really like them. But this dough is - for me - extremely easy to handle. I am sure I will use it from now on whenever possible!

The filling is a mix of merengue an cranberries. As fresh cranberries are rarely seen in Austria I had to use (soft) dried ones but I guess they come very close to the original. Maybe it is even a bit of an advantage as I think they are a somewhat lighter in weight than fresh ones - so they do not weigh so heavy on the fragile merengue.

I did bake the tart too long, so the filling got too dense. It didn't harm the taste of the tart - which was great! - but the looks. During baking I was so afraid the filling would not be firm enough, and you have no chance to try it like with cakes. So I let the tart in the oven for about 15mins longer. The result: the filling got a bit firm, shrunk and I ended up with a much flatter tart than the original.

As so often - no problem for my colleagues, they ate the tart in a snap. It helps if you don't tell your 'test-guineapigs' what it should like :-)

Have a look what the tart actually should look like, and buy the book by Dorie Greenspan, to find out about the recipe!

TWD: Raspberry-Fig Crostata - with Plums (rewind-week)

When the Raspberry-Fig Crostata was originally scheduled I opted for the Johnny Cake Cobbler. It was one of the weeks back in the end of August 2013 when we had the choice between two recipes. And as raspberries are in season by June/July in Austria and figs never are, I went with the other option.

I am not a huge raspberry fan, but many people are so I gave it a try. Instead of figs I used plums which are in season right now in Vienna.

The tart dough is an interesting version with almonds and sesame. I like this crust very much and will use it for other tarts, too. But be aware that it is not that easy to handle. I had to press it in the mold but that was fine. When I made the top-lattice I found out it is a bit easier to handle when you flatten it and freeze it. The strips still got slightly too thick, but it was my first lattice, so I am fine with it.

The filling turned out good tasting, if you like raspberries. Although I used much more plums than raspberries (I took what I had at hand) the raspberries are very dominant and it was almost not possible to spot the plum-taste. I doubt that it would have been different with figs.

The tart looks beautiful and I can imagine it with a whole lot of other fruits. The beauty dissappears when you cut it, at least my tart did not look very pretty cut in pieces, maybe because the filling got too warm at the tart was out of the refrigerator for too long.

To find out how it turned out for the other, much more gifted bakers in the group, have a look at the leave-your-link-page for August 20th 2013. And to find out about the recipe, buy the book by Dorie Greenspan and flip to p. 374!

TWD: Summer Vegetable Tart

I'm not sure if this counts as a TWD-post because I made so many changes to this "tart", it actually turned out another recipe.

Two problems arose: First, you can't keep this tart. I always bake Sunday and bring my baking goods to work Monday, so this was a problem. And it seemed to be very difficult to make smaller tartes as the dough is not that easy to handle.
Secondly, for me the vegetables in the recipe are no summer vegetables in any way. Maybe I am living in the wrong part of the world, but peppersweets are never in season round here and mushrooms are more associated with autumn in Vienna.

Oh, and a third problem: I really had no idea what the directions for dough treatment ment. As there is no picture of the tart I was absolutely  blank what the recipe wanted me to do. So I had to do a lot of improvisation.

I decided to make nests - my first try. I took smaller pieces of the dough and arranged them randomly in muffin pans. Next time, I learned, I would reverse the pans and put the dough around the "outside" to make sure it is through all the way and not only at the edges.

I filled the nests with a zucchini-tomato mix with a lot of fresh spices and "braid cheese", a very salted version of goat cheese (think dense salted haloumi in very small strips, arranged to a braid).

Like that, I liked it a lot. I served it with some spinach salad (with green beans and dried tomatoes), what made it a perfect summer dinner.

But, as I said at the beginning, I am really not sure this counts as TWD...

If you want to find out what the other bakers did (I do! I am really curiuos what it SHOULD have looked like!) go to the TWD-page. And if you are interested in the original recipe of the Summer Vegetable Tart, just have a look in the book by Dorie Greenspan on  page 436.

TWD: Baked Yogurt Tart

I am late, sooo late. It's Sunday and the tart was due on Tuesday. Honestly, as I always bake on Sundays, I am late one week. Sorry for that.
But here it is. One ordinary tart and some tartelettes, one in a heart-shaped mold. Like that, I culd use all the filling.

The filling is a yogurt mix, what means it has a comparatively low calories level. The recipe asks for non-fat yogurt what did surprise me, because usually dessert recipes ask for fat as a taste-means. And there is no butter in it. So, except for the sugar (with 3/4 c also not too much), there are no calories or fat in it.

If you are looking for a recipe that does not interfere with your bikini-figure this ia a perfect option!

I gave some lemon zest to the filling, but it made no difference in the end. I used blueberries because I really think they are best for all things baked, and gave some toasted coconut shreddes instead of the nuts on the tart. For decoration i Used red currants and made little starts from left-over tart dough.

The filling is really easy, easy, easier. If you have a pre-baked crust in the freezer or at least a ready made dough the tart itself will be ready very quickly!

For my part, I like the taste. But I have to say that I am a big yogurt lover! I prefer frozen yogurt over icecram not for diet-reasons but for the taste. And in summer I could live from yogurt and berries. But I am not sure of other people like the taste just like me. Additionally, the look tricks  you a bit because you might think it's a cheesecake . but it is totally not. And it is nor a very sweet tart. So - as much as I love this tart and yould do it ever and ever again, I can imagine other people wouldn't.

TWD: French Apple Tart

For years, I had big troubles with tartes and pies, because I never managed to get the dough right. With the "new" book, it seems I finally found the one recipe I am able to master! I made the Flaky Pie Dough for the second time now, and for so far everything went fine. Good news, as I like tartes and pies. And - this recipe is also good for non-sweet tartes, so it is kind of a multi-tasking dough :o]

The French Apple Tart is a tart filled with kind of a home-made apple-sauce and the usual apple slices on top. It takes some time because additionally to the shell you also have to do the apple-sauce. But it is very simple and the result looks great!

I made half the recipe and got a small tart (but still about 8 slices or 12 very thin slices) and an individual tart. I could have used a bit more sauce - I used three apples, one very big one, two normal ones, and it was fine, but more would have been also ok.
Baking time was a bit longer than the recipe tells, what is unusual. It was more like 40 minutes. But I only slightly pre-baked the crust so maybe that's the point.

I brought it to the office the next day and absolutely everybody fell in love with it! I wouldn't say it looses over night, but for sure, a warm apple tart is always extraordinary as well.
If you want to find out about the recipe turn to Gaye's blog "Law of the Kitchen" or have a look at the book by Dorie Greenspan on pp 379-381.

TWD rewind: Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart and World Peace Cookies

I didn't do the Bagels lately, so I made two rewinds in October. Both recipes I wanted to try for a long time.

The Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart ist just marvellous. It is a bit work, because you have to chop nuts, prepare the caramel and make the chocolate ganache. But once you have all the parts ready, you just have to assemble them - and you're done! I stored it over night in the fridge and think this was a really good idea. Like that, the ganache got more dense and eventually a different texture to what was foreseen in the recipe. But it also gives you the chance to have a chocolate ganache that can be cut with a knife and a tart-filling that does not run out.

I liked it very muched, but would salt the caramel even more next time because I just love salt in sweets!
Besides: This was the first time I really REALLY managed the tart dough! Hooray! Finally! For the recipe, have a look at Carla of Chocolate Moosey who did host the week of Sept 29th 2009 (click), or buy the book by Dorie Greenspan and go to pp. 355-357.

My second rewind are World Peace Cookies. I am not so much a chocolate lover (funny both recipes this week are heavily chocolate loaded, though). But I wanted to try these because they are one of these "special" recipes. Some recipes in Dorie's book are paired with a special story, a very personal one. Like the Chocolate Armagnac Cake. The Rugelachs. Or - the World Peace Cookies. So I gave them a try.

For chocolate cookies, they are quite good. I'm not a chocolate lover, but a big shortbread/sablé-fan so I liked these. They are easy in the making. I used half bittersweet chocolate and half orange-infused bittersweet chocolate with tiny candied dried orange pieces.

Baking time was somewath shorter (more lik 6-10 mins, depending on the batch).
As so often, they do not look perfect but I really liked the texture - the cookie itself is more on the dry side, but there are very soft chocolate pieces in it, and I like texture-mixes.

Sorry for the bad pic. I am unable to get good pictures of chocoalte cookies. But if you google "World peace Cookies" and "Tuesdays with Dorie" you will get a hole lot of  of brilliant pictures! Some of them are by Jessica of cookbookhabit who did host the week of Feb. 3rd 2009 in "TWD-the first season". She has the recipe in her blog - or have a look on pp 138/139 in Dorie Greenspan's "Baking - From my home to yours".

TWD: Berry Galette

 Berries, berries, berries. Can't get enough! The berry season is going to end soon anyways so I am going to profit from the remaining days. In the berry-universe, blueberries are by far my favourite so it was no big deal what fruits I would choose for the Berry Galette.


The galette itself is definitely a keeper for me. It is a kind of a "free-style" tarte and that makes it easy for me to handle. No fitting in a tart shell, no covering the tarte with a top. Just a bit of rolling and filling. And the best part is: There's no need to fold the dough over the berries in a regular, even pattern. The more irregular and unprecise it is, the better it looks - not too bad!

I made two mini-galettes (with a shorter baking time - about 15-20mins) and they were great! Not too sweet and good looking! Should be very pretty on a dessert table.

I stored one of them in the fridge and still liked them the next day. The recipe recommends not to do it. Right, the texture changes and the dough is not that crispy anymore. But different is not worse, in my eyes. Maybe it would not work with a big galette, but for the minis it was more than ok.

If you want to find out about the recipe have a look at the pages of the TWD-hosts this week: Lisa of Tomato Thymes in the Kitchen and Andrea of The Kitchen Lioness. Or simply by the book by Dorie Greenspan with the recipes of Julia Child, turn to page 377 and go for it!

TWD: Missed recipe make-up - Quick Berry Tarte

This is a three-tuesday-month, therefore we have a "free ride" today. Since we did not make so many recipe so far from "Baking with Julia" I decided to catch up with one of the recipe I missed with the first round of TWD - Baking: From my home to yours. I decided on the Apple Coconut Family-Cake. For the recipe, turn to Ambers blog "Cobbler du Monde" or have a look into Dorie Greenspan's book on p. 214.

I combined the playing around-version with the original and made a coconut-nut-apple cake. It's a simple, easy in the making and very tasty and moisty cake. Nothing too extraordinary, but that's not always necessary, in my view.
As it was so tasty, it went away at my office faster than I could take pictures :o[

But I made a second recipe, because one of my colleagues finished her master studies and we did celebrate a bit today. We are all pretty proud of her, because we have a quite busy job and she managed to finish her studies while working the same amoutn as everybody else of us. What is a pretty amazing hard piece of work!
I (re)made the Quick Berry Tarte, which looks great, taste delicious, but is not quick at all. Well, it is quick in the making itself as you just have to fill the tarte shell with the cream and spread berries over it. But tarte dough takes time (chilling the butter, freezing the dough, freezing the rolled out dough again, baking, cooling,...) and also for the cream to prepare. In the end, I always need two days for it. But it was a success and worth it anyways! You may find the recipe at Cristine's of Cooking with Cristine or on page 377 of Dorie Greenspan's book.

And I do have pictures of this :o]

TWD: Chocolate Truffle Tartlets

I started the new generation of "Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia" with a  shortfall. I was on the road and didn't plan ahead, so I missed the first recipe of a long, long list of recipes to come. But I love bread baking, therefore I will for sure catch up with the White Loafs!

But let's talk about this week. The new rules for TWD include we only do two recipes a month, an easier one and one that is more difficult. The Chocolate Truffle Tartlets are for sure on the more difficult, at least more time-consuming, side.

I am not a huge fan of tarte-baking - not that I don't like them, au contraire! But I am the biggest looser in tart shell baking. This dough recipe took me a long, long time do do (I did freeze it a bit longer, shaved it and pressed the curls in the form. Time consuming, but easy!) And in the end it is the first tarte dough I managed not to burn or ruin in another way.  - I like!

The filling sounds more than decadent - and meets the expectations also in taste!

I had to do some changes: Instead of Cantuccini I used milk-nut chocolate and sesame brittle because that was what I had at hand. I made one big tarte instead of 6 tartlets, because I don't posess 6 tartlet forms. I don't think it made a big difference. I increased baking time to about 20 mins. Maybe I should have added  a bit more, because the filling was very, very moisty, almost liquid. But oh so good!! Think Mousse au chocolat made of theree different chocolates with crunchy pieces in tarte. Mhhhh!
I chilled it and brought it to my office the next day. The texture was different, more chewy, but again more than yummi!

It was really worth all the fuzz I had with the tart shell!

You may find the recipe on pages 382-383 in "Baking with Julia" or on the pages of this weeks hostesses:   Steph, Spike, Jaime and Jessica.

TWD: Honey Almond Fig Tart

I can't believe the Honey Almond Fig Tart took so long to be chosen. If I wouldn't be so timid when it comes to tart-shell-baking, I sure would have picked this recipe when it was my turn some weeks ago! Finally, Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table opted for it. You can find the recipe on her blog or in Dorie's book on page 373.

Last week I made some more tart dough and put it in the freezer. Therefore I only had to make the cream this week, which comes together very quick and easy.
Figs and almonds are a wonderful combo, I think, and honey makes a perfect third part in this.

And I was not dissapointed. This is for sure one of the greatest tasting tarts I ever made. And whenever I am brave enough to try masterin tart dough, I will re-bake it!

I couldn't find any fresh figs but the florida-version presented in the "playing around"-option was not that appealing for me. So I used dried (but soft) figs and it worked out fine (even though I can imagine that fresh figs would be even more intriguing).

(Don't be misled by the pictures - the top was very dark brown, indeed, but not burnt at all!)

TWD: Sour Cream Pumpkin Tart

This week was the end of my attempts to avoid baking a tarte by choosing the other recipe on the schedule. As Judy of Judy’s Gross Eats opted for the Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie/Tart (to be found on p.324 in Dorie's book or on Judy's blog) and Tracey of Tracey’s Culinary Adventures picked the Normandy Apple Tart (pp 304-305) - I had no choice but to opt for a tart :o]

I took the pumpkin tarte because up to now I only had good experiences with pumkin desserts. Not that I made so many - only the two that were on the TWD-list since I joined. But these, the Caramel Pumpkin Pie and the Butternut Squash Pie were just great.

Baking tartes and pies horrifies me, because the tart dough never works out for me. It takes me two days for making them. I am never able to fit them in the form, it always breaks. And it always always gets too dark before the tart is halfway baked. Even if I put a foil tent over it.

This time I reduced pre-baking so much, that at least the tart shell didn't get burnt. But it took me still two days for preparing with all the chilling needed. But this time I erred with the quantity. I made a double crust and did wonder, where I should spread all this dough in my form... Tart dough and me - we will never be a good pairing. But at least I tried.

The tart filling is more than easy. I made the pumpkin purree myself, and despite of that you only need some dairies and spices.

The tart is interesting, because it is not at all sweet and therefore more like a snack than a dessert. I wish I would have used more spices because I thought the tart is a bit boring in taste. But my colleagues just loved it! And that's (almost) all that matters!

TWD: Depths-of-Fall Butternut Squash Pie

This week we had the option between two of my biggest challenges: Madeleines, which are hard to handle for me, as I have no Madeleine-mold, and they just do not turn out as they should in Callisson-molds or anything else. And - when I made them for the first and only time in my life they didn't get fluffy and soft as they should. I am no Madeleine-Master....
The second option was a challenge as well, as I am physically not able to do a decent pie/tarte crust. No idea why. I just always always always have troubles with them.

Nevertheless, I choose the Pie. I love pumpkins. And when we first made a pumpkin pie for the TWD-group I was more than thrilled by the result. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving round here, therefore it never came to my mind to make something sweet with pumpkins - although now it seems so evident, because they naturally bring a sweet taste with them.

Besides the crust, which was an, uhm, let's say adventure, as always - the filling and baking was very easy. I had to cover the pie with foil very soon (after about 15/20mins) and did bake it slightly longer. For the optional dried fruits I voted for cranberries because it seemes more interesting than rasins and more thanks-giving-ish. Instead of the nuts I used pumpkin kernels and it worked out perfectly.

I can only say that I love this pie! The pumpkin and pears and cranberries match perfectly. If you haven't already - go and try it! It's just what I imagine Thanksgiving should taste like in my humble european view!

For the recipe you can go to Valerie's blog "Une Gamine dans la Cuisine". She did pick this Fall Butternut Squash Pie for us this week. Or have a look in Dorie's book on pages 328-329.

For the Mini-Madeleines, look here how they turned out for my fellow bakers. The recipe can be found on Di's blog "Kitchen Notebook" or on page 172 in "Baking".

TWD - Tarte Fine

For this week of TWD Leslie of Lethally Delicious decided on Tarte Fine - go to her page to find the recipe, or flip through Dorie's book to page 315.

Tarte Fine is a french classic - the recipe says. When I read the ingredients and this introduction, I had a certain picture in mind. A picture of a very thin tarte crust (the "fine" part in the Tarte Fine, I thought), layered with apples. Well, the second part of my guess was right, but the "crust" should be puff pastry.

Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of puff pastry. It has a lot of fat and calories for not so enormously much taste. In this respect it reminds me very much on a croissant. When I see a croissant I always ask myself why I should eat something as fat and full of calories as a muffin, but without any taste of itself (despite, maybe, the taste of butter).
That doesn not mean I never eat croissants :o]
And it does not mean I didn't try the Tarte Fine...

The second point why I am not a huge fan of puff pastry is that it's not a good keeper. I always bake on Sunday and bring the treats to work the next day, so anything puff pastry is always difficult and never a big success.

The Tarte Fine didn't taste bad, but it had the looks of a cold Pizza and wasn't a big hit around here. Maybe it didn't help I used the jam as a bottom layer between the pastry and the apples...

So. Let's just not speak too much about this tarte and start thinkig about the next apple recipe, which is just one week ahead with the Double Apple Bundt Cake to come!


PS: Don't forget to visit Leslie's page anyways! She is one of the nicest, most helpful and most awesome bakers of all these awesome TWD-ers!

PPS.: Now that I had a look at Leslie's page and some other TWD-bakers I found out what the Tarte Fine should actually look like! And as I had some puff pastry left, I just tried it out. Looks much better! Now my colleagues will have to deal with another Tarte tomorrow...

TWD: Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart

I was on the road almost the whole day because I had to accompany my boss to a day at a summer think-tank in the Austrian mountains. It was an exciting and interesting day, but also an exhausting one. We have been on the road for 9 hours - 4 and a half each way.

Nevertheless, and also against all the work I had to to on the weekend for preparing today's event, I made the Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart, chosen by Rachel of sweet tarte (have a look at her page for the recipe, or flip through Dorie's book to pages 346 and 347. and left it at the office at 6:30 am, before we left from there. I am a good colleague. :o]

This tart was great, wonderful, extremely tasty! I did not arrive to get a perfect crust, but it turned out the best crust I ever made (which is not hard...). Anayways, I can live with the result, and the tart itself is almost perfect.

Funnily, the fruits didn't taste like peaches, but more like apples. Maybe I left them too long in the boiling water during blanching, maybe I cooked them too long in the oven. But who cares as long as the result tastes as perfect as it did?

Did I mention I love Streusel? Well - I do!!

TWD - Tarte Noire

This is what the Tarte Noire should probably approximately look like. The recipe was chosen by Dharmagirl of bliss: towards a delicious life for this weeks' Tuesday with Dorie, where you will find the recipe. (you can find the recipe also in Dorie's book on p. 351 and the recipe for the crust on p 444 or 446)

To make it short: I completely failed. Well, not completely completely. I managed to make the ganache. But the more tarte crusts I make, the worse I get. Usually, I tend to overbake it. Not this time. This time I made a wonderful chocolate shortbread crust. The problem was: When I pulled the crust of my small test-piece out of the shell, it completely cracked. Cracked in hundred pieces. So I hurried to re-arrange the pieces and filled in some of the ganache to get at least a picture.

With the "real" tarte it was the same problen. No idea what went wrong. I used two medium egg yolks despite one big one, but I think this should add more humidity, not less. So - who knows. Tarte crusts and me just don't become friends.

At least you can't tell from the picture how big the fail was. I ate the test piece it with a spoon, and it did taste great. I planned to decorate the tarte with some red currants, for the looks and to get a counterpart to the sweetness of the tarte, and for the little pice the taste-combo did work very well. But there was no sense in filling the the crumbling crust and bringing it to work.

So I mixed the chocolate ganache with sugar-water and some yoghurt, added big pieces of the tarte crust and the rest of the un-baked dough and now have Chocolate Half-Baked Sherbet to bring to work tomorrow.
There are worse things happenning, I guess :o].

If I make this ever again (and for the taste and looks it is all worth it, it is just the question if I dare to do a tarte crust, without having it on the TWD-list), I would go for orange-dark-chocolate, an idea I got from Karen from Our crazy blessed life, that sounds terrific, as I adore orange-dark chocolate!

Easter Menu (the sweet part) and TWD catch-up: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

Like on Christmas I opted for bringing the sweets for the Easter Brunch. (As in the meantime desserts became the only course I might manage to make not too bad, this was an easy decision for everybody involved. What is, like me and my mom.) And, contrary to Christmas, when I made the Christmas Muffins I found at Laws of the Kitchen , David Lebovitz' Roquefort Icecream with a Shiraz poached pear and  goat cheese custards - and forgot to picture them!!, this time I took pictures...

TWD: Tarte Tatin - Happy Birthday, TWD!

Before I present you my result of theTarte Tatinwhich we all did choose together for TWDs 2nd birthday, I would like to thank the founder (Laurie of Quirky Cupcake) of and all the people supporting TWD for having the nice idea to bake together trough Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours, to run the homepage, and to put so much effort into it!
Thanks a lot, and lets head forward to a new year of exiting baking adventures!

For the second birthday, Laurie asked everybody to vote for a recipe, and in the end the match was made by Tarte Tatin (which I heavily opted for myself) and the Coconut-Buttermilk Birthday Cake. Coconut is fine, buttermilk is fine, Birthday cakes are fine - but creamy cakes are not my favourite. And I brought a Tarte Tatin pan back from my last trip to Paris, so I was happy to use it!
Furthermore, Tarte Tatin did appear to me as the perfect choice. Because Dorie Greenspan lives (at least part of her life) in Paris and this tarte is for me one of the most typical french sweets, and her recipes are sometimes very classic/classy, as is this tarte, too.

To spoil the end: I didn't arrive to make a Tarte Tatin. I won't say I made a bad cake (does something like a "bad" cake exist?), but whatever it turned out, it didn't turn out to be a Tatin.
Tant pis.

My Tarte Tatin Pan                                                                                 before baking

and after baking

 I took too many apples, made too high layers, didn't turn the dough deep enough into the pan.

So, what I made is a, uhm, strange kind of an apple tarte. Not too bad, anyways, as caramel sauce and cooked apples are never too bad. But I will have to retry it.