Zoë François Reveals The One Pastry She Could Eat Every Day For The Rest Of Her Life
If you had to pick, could you choose one pastry to eat for the rest of your life? It's a big ask, and even celebrity chef Zoë François had trouble choosing. The popular baking personality behind the Zoë Bakes moniker, and known for her popular books as well as appearances on the Magnolia Network, was asked this very question in an interview shared with Mashed. As François replied, "That's torture."
But when pressed, she did make a choice — and it's a good one. "I had tarte tatin, which is a caramelized apple tart, for breakfast this morning. ...I think I could do that pretty much every day. I am really fickle, so every day I crave something new. So just to have one thing for the rest of my life would be really difficult, but I don't know, that tarte did it for me."
What is tarte tatin?
Tarte tatin can be described as a caramelized apple tart, or perhaps an apple upside-down cake (via What's Cooking America). While there are many different versions of this dessert, from rustic to refined, the basics remain true across most versions. Bakers layer butter, sugar, and apples across the bottom of a pan, then cover it with a pastry crust. The dish is consistently served warm with a cream or créme melting across the top.
It should be known that Zoë François takes pie crust quite seriously, recommending that all bakers use the right one for the job and sharing her own recipes from lattice crust to double crust on Zoë Bakes. So, it's clear she would not recommend this dish lightly if it was not perfect.
As for the original version of the tarte tatin, rumor has it the brilliant pastry was so divine, in fact, that the famed Maxim's Restaurant in Paris once sent spies to learn the original recipe from French sisters and creators Carolina and Stephine Tatin (who created it in 1898) in order to poach it, according to 196 Flavors.
So, if there's one pastry to rule them all, the tarte tatin is definitely in the running. Nominated by Zoë François and worthy of culinary espionage, we're going to need a slice right now — for judging purposes, of course.