Apple and Black Pepper Tarte Tatin

Preheated oven to 200ºC, or 400ºF. Peel, core and slice the apples in circles.

Heat up the pan you’ll be using and make sure it doesn’t have any plastic parts that will melt in the oven. Add sugar, lemon juice and pepper. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise, scrape the seeds with a knife and to add the seeds to the pan. Put the scraped pods in the pan as well, scraped side down. When the sugar has completely dissolved, remove the pan from heat and add the apples, arrange the apple slices in 2 layers. Dice the butter over the apples.

Cover the apples with the puff pastry and tuck the pastry in. Fold the longer corners in. Make a few holes in the crust with a fork. Put it into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden.

Take the pastry out of the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes. Put a plate over the pan, wish yourself luck, and quickly turn it over. And there you have it, an upside down cake.

Enjoy!