Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap

Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap: A breakfast to impress! Image: Jenny Morris.

Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap – A dessert fit for presidents

This creatively delicious recipe combines traditional South African maize meal pap with tart apples caramelised to a sweet delicacy.

Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap

Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap: A breakfast to impress! Image: Jenny Morris.

This delicious vanilla pap is glorious served for breakfast, and even better when transformed to a dessert and topped with fudgy caramelised apples. Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap is a unique dessert developed by Jenny Morris. She prepared this dessert as part of a working lunch for Vice-President Al Gore and President Thabo Mbeki.

This creatively delicious recipe combines traditional South African maize meal pap with tart apples caramelised to a sweet delicacy. Prepare Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap as a special treat for your guests and sit back as the compliments start rolling in.

If you have any pap left, don’t let it go to waste. Roll the leftover pap into balls, dust with flour, roll in egg and sesame seeds and deep-fry. Serve warm with a little more honey drizzled over the top for another delightful treat.

This uniquely delicious recipe from Jenny Morris, also known as The Giggling Gourmet, is just the recipe to surprise your guests with. To see what else is cooking in Jenny’s kitchen, follow @jennymorrischef on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. Or order her book here.

Apple Tart Tatin with Vanilla Pap Recipe

5 from 2 votes
Recipe by Jenny Morris Course: DessertCuisine: South AfricanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 
Total time

1

hour 

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • Apples
  • 6 medium-sized 6 dessert apples (Pink Ladies are fabulous)

  • 120 g 120 unsalted butter, cubed

  • 1 cup 1 castor sugar

  • ¾ teaspoon ¾ ground cinnamon

  • pinch pinch of ground cloves

  • 2 2 cardamom pods, split with seeds removed

  • juice of 1 large lemon

  • Vanilla Pap
  • 2 cups 2 (500 ml) milk

  • 1 and ⅔ cups 1 and ⅔ water

  • 30 g 30 butter

  • pinch pinch of salt

  • 1 teaspoon 1 vanilla extract

  • ½ cup ½ honey

  • 300 g 300 maize meal

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
  • Peel, core and halve the apples, and arrange them in a large pan with an ovenproof handle.
  • Dot the apples with butter, scatter with castor sugar, and sprinkle over the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.
  • Place the pan onto a hot plate and let the butter and sugar melt, shaking the pan from time to time to prevent the sugar from burning.
  • The minute the sugar and butter melts, squeeze the lemon juice over the apples and let it cook for one to three minutes.
  • Remove from the stove and let the apples cool before topping with the pap.
  • Now let’s make the pap. Bring the milk and water to the boil, add the butter, salt, vanilla extract and honey, stir in the maize meal and stir well with a wooden spoon to combine. Keep stirring to avoid any lumps.
  • Once everything is blended, turn the heat down and steam until you have reached the texture you are looking for – this should take about 25 minutes – you want a nice smooth mixture, no grainy bits.
  • Cool the pap slightly and spoon a layer of it over the apples in the pan. Dot with a little butter, and bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
  • Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes and then invert onto a serving platter.
  • Serve while it is still warm with scoops of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of thick whipped cream.

Notes

  • Tip: If you have any pap left, roll it into balls, dust with flour, roll in egg and sesame seeds and deep-fry. Serve warm with a little more honey drizzled over the top.

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