For a long time, I was reluctant to bake a delicious tart like this one here. I was always a bit afraid of making something like this Pear Tarte Tatin or other tarts of this category. Super tasty, extremely decorative, but also made with caramel… which can be tricky occasionally. I was really a bit nervous when making a Tarte Tatin for the first time. But once you’ve baked your first one, it’s not all that bad. The preparation is actually quite simple.
I’ll be honest – my first Tarte Tatin was not a raving success. However, this wasn’t due to the recipe or the tart itself, but to my clumsiness. There were burns and spilled caramel involved… but the caramel didn’t cause any burns.
I was very careful when preparing the caramel – it’s not my first rodeo with hot melted sugar. It got the desired color, it didn’t get too hot, it did not turn bitter and was just perfect. Handling the fruit in combination with the caramel was also not a problem. Everything went perfectly until the tart got out of the oven… It was only here that mistakes were made. But as they say – you learn from your mistakes. Eventually.
Long story short. The first mistake I made was flipping over the tart too early. The caramel that’s in the pan beneath the fruit has to thicken a bit before you can flip everything… as you know, a Tarte Tatin is baked upside down. In my case, the caramel was still too runny and spilled all over the kitchen thanks to some vigorous flipping of the pan. Luckily, none of the caramel ended up on me or anybody else, so I did not burn myself there.
Let’s move on to mistake number two. Once the tart was positioned on a serving plate and all the spilled caramel was wiped off the counter and walls, I was so clever and grabbed the still very hot (!) pan with my bare hands. So much for cleaning everything immediately, all the time. The shape of the pan handle was visible for weeks on my hand.
So, what do we learn from this? Always wait some time if you want to flip a Tarte Tatin and always use oven mitts or something similar when touching hot objects – unless you are Superman. That one can touch hot stuff without getting burned.
This recipe here is part of my »Bake Together – The Baking Surprise« with blogger friend Andrea from Zimtkeks & Apfeltarte. We get together once a month and bake (or occasionally cook) something – based on a theme/idea we came up with in advance. This time it’s all about »upside down cakes« and a delicious Tarte Tatin definitely falls into this category.
There are already a few upside down cake recipes here on the blog, tbh. I’ve linked two of my favorite ones here, so you don’t have to go on a hunt: my delicious Polenta Blood Orange Upside Down Cake and my Banana Upside Down Cake. Both are super tasty and not quite as »dangerous« as a Tarte Tatin ;P
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1.8 oz. (50g) butter, in small pieces
1 vanilla bean pod*, seeds scraped
1 tbsp. espresso
5 small pears, peeled, halved & cored
10 oz. (280g) puff pastry, cooled
100g Zucker
50g Butter, in kleinen Stücken
1 Vanilleschote*, Mark herausgekratzt
1 EL Espresso
5 kleine Birnen, geschält, halbiert & entkernt
280g Blätterteig (Kühltheke)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Peel the pears, half them and core them. Set aside.
2. Add the sugar to a 24cm ovenproof frying pan and heat it up on the stove. Let the sugar melt until it is light golden – takes about 5-6 minutes. Add the butter in small pieces, the vanilla seeds and the vanilla bean pod, as well as the espresso and mix to combine. As soon as the butter is melted and you got a nice caramel sauce, you can add the pears, cut-side up. Reduce the heat a bit and let the pears cook for 8-9 minutes until slightly softer.
3. Cut the puff pastry into a circle that is as big as the frying pan. My puff pastry was so long, I could cut out two circles and place them on top of each other. Prick several times with a fork. Place the puff pastry on top of the pears and tuck the edges of the pastry under along the sides. Bake the Tart for about 32-36 minutes until the puff pastry is golden and crisp. Take it out oven the oven and let it sit for a few minutes so the caramel can firm up a bit, then very (!) carefully flip it onto a serving plate. Make sure the serving plate sits snug on the frying pan, or you will spill hot caramel sauce everywhere. Serve warm with some ice cream.
Tips: You should handle the hot frying pan very carefully and always use oven mitts or a kitchen towel. Always let the tart rest for some time after baking so the caramel can firm up a bit. However, you shouldn’t wait too long for it to set. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get the tart out of the pan. Emergency solution – place the frying pan on the stove and heat it up once more so the caramel can melt again.
1. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Die Birnen schälen, halbieren und entkernen. Zur Seite stellen.
2. Den Zucker in eine etwa 24cm große, ofenfeste Pfanne geben und auf dem Herd erhitzen. Den Zucker so lange erhitzen, bis er geschmolzen ist und eine goldene Farbe bekommen hat – dauert etwa 5-6 Minuten. Die Butter in kleinen Stücken, Vanillemark und die komplette Schote, sowie den Espresso dazugeben und unterrühren – Vorsicht, der Zucker schäumt etwas auf. Sobald die Butter geschmolzen und eine schöne Karamellsauce entstanden ist, kann man die Birnen (mit der Schnittseite nach oben) in das Karamell setzen. Die Hitzezufuhr etwas reduzieren und die Birnen in der Soße für etwa 8-9 Minuten köcheln lassen, bis sie etwas weicher geworden sind.
3. Je nach Größe der Blätterteigschicht den Blätterteig einmal übereinander falten und dann einen Kreis ausschneiden, der in etwa so groß ist, wie die Pfanne (24cm). Mehrmals mit einer Gabel einstechen. Den Blätterteig dann auf die Birnen legen und die Ränder des Teigkreises an den Seiten etwas nach unten drücken (z.B. mit einem Gummispatel), um die Birnen komplett zu umhüllen. Die Tarte etwa 32-36 Minuten backen, bis der Blätterteig knusprig und golden ist. Aus dem Ofen nehmen und einige Minuten ruhen lassen, damit das Karamell etwas anziehen kann, dann sehr (!) vorsichtig auf eine Servierplatte stürzen. Man sollte darauf achten, dass die Servierplatte gut auf der Pfanne sitzt, sonst ist die Gefahr groß, dass Karamell ausläuft. Noch warm mit etwas Eiscreme servieren.
Tipps: Man sollte mit der heißen Pfanne sehr vorsichtig umgehen und immer Ofenhandschuhe oder ein Küchentuch verwenden. Die Tarte nach dem Backen auf jeden Fall einige Zeit stehen lassen, damit das Karamell nicht mehr komplett flüssig ist. Man sollte allerdings nicht so lange warten, bis es komplett fest wird, sonst bekommt man die Tarte nicht aus der Pfanne heraus. Notlösung – noch einmal etwas auf eine heiße Herdplatte stellen und das Karamell wieder schmelzen lassen.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Easy Pear Tarte Tatin
- Prep Time: 00:15
- Cook Time: 00:35
- Total Time: 01:00
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Tarts
- Method: -
- Cuisine: France
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A classic bake from France everybody loves here: Pear Tarte Tatin. Tasty pears, caramel and crunchy puff pastry. This dessert is absolute divine!
Ingredients
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1.8 oz. (50g) butter, in small pieces
1 vanilla bean pod*, seeds scraped
1 tbsp. espresso
5 small pears, peeled, halved & cored
10 oz. (280g) puff pastry, cooled
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Peel the pears, half them and core them. Set aside.
2. Add the sugar to a 24cm ovenproof frying pan and heat it up on the stove. Let the sugar melt until it is light golden – takes about 5-6 minutes. Add the butter in small pieces, the vanilla seeds and the vanilla bean pod, as well as the espresso and mix to combine. As soon as the butter is melted and you got a nice caramel sauce, you can add the pears, cut-side up. Reduce the heat a bit and let the pears cook for 8-9 minutes until slightly softer.
3. Cut the puff pastry into a circle that is as big as the frying pan. My puff pastry was so long, I could cut out two circles and place them on top of each other. Prick several times with a fork. Place the puff pastry on top of the pears and tuck the edges of the pastry under along the sides. Bake the Tart for about 32-36 minutes until the puff pastry is golden and crisp. Take it out oven the oven and let it sit for a few minutes so the caramel can firm up a bit, then very (!) carefully flip it onto a serving plate. Make sure the serving plate sits snug on the frying pan, or you will spill hot caramel sauce everywhere. Serve warm with some ice cream.
Tips: You should handle the hot frying pan very carefully and always use oven mitts or a kitchen towel. Always let the tart rest for some time after baking so the caramel can firm up a bit. However, you shouldn’t wait too long for it to set. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get the tart out of the pan. Emergency solution – place the frying pan on the stove and heat it up once more so the caramel can melt again.
Notes
The kitchen is calling, time to bake!
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