Apple Tarte Tatin

Apples sit tightly packed in butter and caramel, with pastry over the top. Once baked, the tart cools a little before a plate is set over the tin and both are turned together. The apples that were hidden beneath emerge golden and glossy, with the pastry now supporting them.

This dessert is associated with the Tatin sisters, who ran a hotel in Lamotte-Beuvron in late nineteenth-century France. Stories of its creation differ. What remains memorable is the method: build it upside down, then turn it over at the end.

The traditional Hanged Man also reverses a familiar direction. Suspended head downward from a wooden frame, he looks calm, with light around his head. His position suggests pausing the usual course of action and looking again from somewhere else.

Tarte Tatin makes that change of view tangible. During baking you mostly see pastry; after turning it over, you can see how the apples lie and the color of the caramel. A change of direction reveals a part of the same dessert that was previously covered.

When something feels stuck, give yourself a pause like this. Set aside “How do I keep going?” for a moment and ask “What have I not seen clearly?” Listen to another explanation, revisit an assumption, then choose what to do. Know what the pause is for, and set a time to begin again.