You will notice a theme in the coming weeks of comfort and joyful foods that will hopefully brighten your day (as well as mine when I develop and make them) and help us through this darkest of Januarys.But in the meantime, what we need is serious comfort food; a great big hug on a plate! Surely a Tart Tatin, with it’s crisp and flaky base topped with delicious caramel and juicy fruit must be the epitome of feel good food.
I think people presume a Tart Tatin is difficult to make but it’s so easy and you only need a few ingredients to make a delicious drool-worthy tart. Apparently created by a happy mistake, the beauty of a good tart Tatin is that a little bit of scruffiness only adds to the appeal. A normal Tart Tatin is laden with butter but you really wouldn’t notice the difference with my friendly version.
Pear Tart Tatin
(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)
serves 4-6
100g caster sugar
30g dairy-free margarine
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 pears, peeled , cored and cut into 12 wedges each
1/2 pack dairy-free puff pastry (about 250g)
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade
- Roll out the pastry and cut out a circle a little bigger than the top of the pan you’re going to use.
- Place an oven-proof pan (if you have one) on a medium heat. Add the sugar and let is dissolve until it forms a light golden caramel. Carefully add the margarine and cinnamon (it will splatter a bit) and swirl to combine. Add the pear slices and turn over in the caramel so they are nicely coated.
- Either pour into an oven proof dish or use the one you made the caramel in. Neatly arrange the pear slices and let cool for a few minutes
- Place the pastry circle on top and tuck the edges in
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry has puffed up and is golden all over
- Let cool for a couple of minutes, then place a plate on top of the pan and quickly invert the dish.
- Serve wedges with ice cream or dairy-free pouring cream
