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Pear and Ginger Tarte Tatin

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Pear and Ginger Tarte Tatin

This recipe uses rough puff pastry, which has the same texture as puff or flaky pastry but is much easier to make. The tarte can be assembled up to 4 hours in advance before baking.

  • Vegetarian
Preparation time:
30 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling
Cooking time:
45 minutes
Total time:
1 hour 45 minutes, including chilling 60 minutes 45 minutes
Serves:
 8

Ingredients

  • For the filling
  • 50g fresh root ginger, peeled
  • Finely grated zest of 2 limes, plus 3 tbsp juice
  • 175g golden caster sugar
  • 1kg small ripe but firm Conference pears
  • For the pastry
  • 225g plain flour
  • 250g butter, cubed and chilled
  • 1 tbsp lime juice

Method

  1. For the pastry, place the flour in a mixing bowl and add 175g of the butter, the lime juice and 125ml ice-cold water. Mix with a round-bladed knife until the mixture forms a soft dough, adding a dash more water if the mixture feels dry and flaky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to bind. Lightly dust the rolling pin with flour, then roll out the dough to make an oblong about 30cm long and 15cm wide.
  2. Fold the bottom third of the dough up and the top third down to make a rectangle of three layers, keeping the edges straight. Press the side of your hand into the pastry on each side of the rectangle to seal the layers together. Give the pastry a quarter turn. Repeat the rolling, folding and turning 4 more times, then wrap the pastry in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, to rest.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Butter the sides of a 24cm-round, 4cm-deep cake tin with a fixed, solid base. Finely grate the ginger into a bowl, collecting any juices and discarding any fibrous parts of the root.
  4. In a small pan, heat the sugar with the lime zest and juice until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for 4-5 minutes until the syrup is turning golden around the edges. (Watch the pan closely during boiling, as the syrup will quickly caramelise). Carefully dip the base of the pan in cold water to prevent further cooking. Stir in the remaining butter and the ginger to make a smooth sauce.
  5. Pour half the sauce into the prepared tin so it coats the base in a thin layer. Peel, core and quarter the pears, then pack the pear quarters into the tin, some rounded-side down, some cut-side down. Press them down firmly in an even layer.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry fairly thickly to make a 25cm circle, using a plate or bowl as a guide. Carefully lift the pastry over the pears, tucking it down inside the edges of the tin to cover the filling completely. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is well risen and golden. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out.
  7. Meanwhile, gently reheat the remaining sauce. Loosen the pastry around the edges of the tin with a round-bladed knife. Place a large plate on top of the tarte, then invert it onto a plate.
  8. Cut into slices, pour over the sauce and serve with crème fraîche or Greek yogurt.

Cook's tips

If you don't have a 24cm-round shallow cake tin, the tarte can be baked in a similar-sized frying pan with an ovenproof handle. Take care when removing it from the oven.

Comments and images

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alr

alr 23 February 2009 22:53

Sadly this is not a good recipe for tarte tatin. In the oven, the tin won't get hot enough for the sauce and pears to finish caramelising: instead you'll get loads of juice from the pears that will turn the pastry soggy before you've even got it to the table. I recommend instead using a recipe where you finish caramelising the sugar and butter mixture with the pears (or apples) in the tin on top of the hob. Then put the pastry on, then finish in the oven.

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4 stars out of 5

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Nutritional Info

Typical values per serving:
Energy 528.0kcal
Fat 29.3g
Saturated Fat 19.1g
Salt 0.7g

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This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in September 2004