Saturday, September 15, 2012

Pear Tarte Tatin

This is a simple tarte tatin made with puff pastry.  There's a bit of debate as to whether a tarte tatin should be made with a shortcrust kind of pastry and I can see why as the caramel really softens the puff.  But I think whatever base you use, the tarte tatin for me is all about the sweet caramel buttery pears (or apples or whatever fruit you choose).
The recipe I used is a Gordon Ramsay recipe which jazzes up the traditional tarte tatin by including additional spices (recipe can be found here) such as cinnamon and cardamon.  I included a vanilla bean as it goes so well with these spices.  
 
I'm not sure whether the tarte tatin is supposed to be so syrupy, in fact, I don't think it is, as it does ruin the pastry but I quite enjoyed it, particularly when eaten with vanilla ice-cream - yum!  I definitely will try this one again, perhaps with a different base, as the flavours were delicious.  Oh, and a tip if you're not a fan of the sogginess - use fruit which is firm, so here in Australia, I used the Packham Pears which are usually crunchier than the rest.  And you can prepare the pears (or apples) a day ahead, leaving them uncovered in the fridge - this helps to dry them out.   


No comments:

Post a Comment