Continuing on the French Theme

My Larousse Gastronomique, a food encyclopedia that I refer to rarely, has instructions for making a tarte Tatin that start something like this: Heat a brick oven until the coals are red. It's an old edition, so I believe that suggestion is more an assumption about the era it was published in than an haughty French insinuation that your kitchen is less than complete if you don't have a brick oven. France in the 1950s was still very much like a 19th century country. Well outfitted homes would have had brick ovens.
You can make a perfect tarte Tatin in a gas oven in your apartment. The trick is to use a pâte brisée for the crust(OK, short crust to we Américains)and to make sure, no matter what, that you let the apples caramelize to a dark amber color, or even deeper. You will be tempted to remove them too soon. Do not do it. Also, apple pie recipes often suggest using Granny Smith or other tart apples, but I use Golden Delicious. They are sweet, caramelize well and keep their shape after long minutes of cooking.
Lastly, don't let the final step in the recipe intimidate you. The one where you take the hot tart and flip it onto a plate. First, bake the tarte in an ordinary glass pie dish. When it comes out, cover it with the plate, lift to chest level (using oven mitts) and quickly invert it. Let it rest while the apples unstick themselves. This can take a couple of minutes and can be hurried by jiggling the plate. Then, with your mitted hand on one side and the point of a knife on the other, gently lift the pie dish up from the platter. You can also make mini tartes in ramekins, as I have done in the picture.