Pear Tarte Tatin is a take on the classic French tarte tatin dessert. Tarte tatin gets its name from the Hotel Tatin in France where it was first made. It is an upside-down fruit tart and the fruit is beautifully caramelized with sugar and butter. A pastry pie crust is the placed on top and the tart is baked in the oven. Once the tarte tatin comes out of the oven, it is inverted and served fruit facing up on a pie plate.
To make this tarte tatin, start by creating a caramel base at the bottom of a saucepan. Add sliced pears and top with a pastry crust. The result is sticky caramelized pears on a crumbly pastry base.
To make Pear Tarte Tatin, you will need the following ingredients:
Place the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Work in the butter cubes with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and bring the dough together with a fork.
Form a dough ball and flatten into a disc. Place in the refrigerator and chill for at least one hour before rolling.
Reserve one pear half for the centre of the tarte and cut the rest in half again. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Swirl the pan to ensure that the butter coats the sides too. Sprinkle ⅔ cup of sugar over the butter and remove pan from the heat.
Place the half pear, cut side up, in the middle of the pan with the caramel. Arrange the pear quarters in a fan shape, with the narrow bit pointing toward the center. Angle them to ensure all of the pears fit and try to minimize any gaps.
Place the pan over medium heat and cook the pears gently for about 15-20 minutes until the caramel mixture turns a deep golden brown color. Remove from the heat and place the pan on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the nutmeg and ginger over the pears.
Preheat the oven to 375 °F.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out so that it is larger than the pan. Place the pastry dough on top of the pear mixture and tuck the edges inside the rim of the pan.
Place the tart in the oven and turn the heat down to 350 °F. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is browned and cooked through.
Slide a knife around the edges of the tart in the pan to loosen it. Place a pie plate on the pastry lid and carefully invert the pan until the tarte tatin leaves the pan. Rearrange any pears that might have moved when inverting the dessert.
Tarte tatin tastes amazing with ice cream, whipped cream or both.
This Pear Tarte Tatin is a delicious French dessert. If you make it, come back and leave a review telling me what you think!
Vegetarian Recipes
