APPLES – I was very kindly given lots of them, fresh from the garden, so a Tarte Tatin made sense. I always worry with garden apples that you are going to find a grub but these were thankfully grub free.

Making a Tarte Tatin I thought I had to go properly French and Raymond Blanc’s recipe seemed suitably French enough. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tarte_tatin_72509

The recipe was great – really easy to follow and it worked so that it also a bonus.

Top tips:

1) An apple corer is an amazing kitchen gadget and really useful for coring the apples.

2) It says to freeze the pastry after you have rolled it – turns out the rolled out pastry wouldn’t fit into my freezer so putting it into the fridge worked fine.

3) Use a wooden spoon to bang on the tin and make sure the tarte has really freed itself when you are turning it out onto the plate.