We’re in very delicious territory here, friends. I absolutely love Tarte Tatin. Give me apple, peach, apricot, pineapple, anything and I will happily cook it in caramel, top it with pastry and then bake it.
But my new favourite, I think, has to be this lovely pear version.
I went heavy on the vanilla in the caramel, and used a healthy dose of brandy which compliments the sweet, aromatic pears beautifully.
Really, what more could a pear ask for than to be bathed in a bubbling pool of dark caramel, and then blanketed in a generous sheet of all-butter puff pastry? There’s no better end for a pear than this.
Speaking of pastry, you should know that I totally advocate the use of store-bought puff. The only thing is that you need to get the all-butter stuff. Otherwise you end up with margarine, and that leaves that awful coating on the roof of your mouth, which I do not dig.
Once your good quality puff pastry has gone into the oven, and had the steam off these pears soaking into it for half an hour, along with having its edges coated and crisped with caramel, no-one will care where it came from. They will be too busy trying to break pieces off without burning their fingers.
Which, I might add, is impossible to do! So take my advice and let this cool down a little before you tuck in. You want the caramel to still be oozy and gorgeous, but not molten-lava-hot.
That way, the generous scoop of ice cream that you dollop onto each slice melts seductively, and slowly, allowing perfect bites to be crafted right up until you’re finished.
And I almost forgot the pistachios! Don’t forget the pistachios; they’re so important I even included them in the title of the recipe. Even though they’re just chopped fresh and sprinkled over the top, they provide such a boost of flavour and texture and yes, good looks, that I think they pretty much make this tart.
So tell me, are you a fan of the tarte tatin? (<—- that rhymes!)
xx Sarah.
- 4 pears (I used packham pears)
- 1 sheet of all-butter puff pastry
- ½ cup (110g) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- ½ cup brandy (or lemon juice and water)
- ½ stick (55g) butter
- ¼ cup chopped pistachios
- Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
- Peel the pears, slice them in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds and cores.
- Cut a circle roughly 9inches/23cm from the puff pastry and set aside.
- Place a roughly 9 inch/23cm oven-proof pan over a medium heat, and add the sugar, vanilla and brandy to the pan. Heat, without stirring, until the sugar is melted and the mixture is a light caramel colour.
- Add the pears, core side down and cook them for about 4 minutes, turning half way through.
- Add the butter on top of the fruit and then place the pastry over the top very carefully tucking in the edges just a little.
- Place the pan into the oven and back for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden.
- Remove from the oven and leave to sit for about 30 seconds, before very carefully upending the tarte onto a serving dish. Place the dish upside down on the pan, and then using oven gloves or tea towels, turn it over confidently in one motion. Lift off the pan, and there is your tarte tatin! If any of the fruit sticks to the pan, just pull it out and stick it back on the tarte - the whole point is how rustic and ramshackle it looks.
- Sprinkle generously with pistachios and serve! Brilliant with ice cream, creme fraiche or even sour cream.
Oh this looks like heaven on earth. The deep color and that sauce! Oh my gosh! And I’m with you – store bought puff pastry all the way!
Love this! I tried and failed to make a tarte tatin twice about two years ago and still haven’t gone back. It was the caramel that stumped me but I should probably try again. It looks really good.
oh, Sarah, this is a dessert after my own heart. it looks DELICiOUS!!!
I’m loving that this is like a self-saucing organism…so totally delicious!
I’m pretty sure your creations get pretties every single day, LOVE!
I’ve never made tarte tat in, but I’m going to try this…looks solo good!
Oh hellooo, perfect fall dessert! (Or in your case, spring essert?) I’m also an advocate for store-bought puff pastry–let’s spend our time making delicious fillings instead of slaving over endless dough folds, right?!
This is so beautiful! I bet it tastes amazing.
There is definitely no better end for a pear than bathed in caramel sauce and blanketed in puff pastry! The addition of brandy and pistachios sounds ideal too :-)
Oh my lawd! I love this Sarah!
Goooorgeous color you have on there! :) It’s always tricky getting that just perfect. I do love making a bit of puff pastry – though I totally understand why people buy it!
Ah that looks perfect! Love the addition of pistachios, such a pretty garnish. :)
So gorgeous – as always! When you are going to move in next door so I can eat all your leftovers??
I always lose the first few layers of the roof of my mouth with this kind of stuff – I get too excited. #bakerproblems
i ADORE tart tatin but it is a false-easy recipe…… i will tey again with your suggestion
Made this at the weekend, the pear is a lovely change. I added some chopped stem ginger to the caramel.
Deirdre @ http://www.thekitschcook.blogspot.com
So glad you liked it Deirdre! Stem ginger sounds like a fantastic addition!
What a beautiful site you’ve got! It’s so much fun, the photos are gorgeous and the recipes all look to die for!
This recipe is a real winner. I’ve a ton of pears from our tree and am forever looking for ways to use them so this will be perfect. And there’s no WAY I’ll be forgetting the pistachios – they look so pretty and must taste great with the caramelly pears.
And thank you for visiting my site – I love having new visitors :D