Banana tarte tatin

Using the recipe we previously tested with the peach tarte tatin, today we made a banana tarte tatin. It took no time at all – always helps to have three people in the kitchen to do three tasks ( (1) prep the bananas, (2) roll out pastry, (3) prepare the caramel) – and turned out pretty picture-perfect, if I say so myself.

To remind you of the recipe:

Tarte tatin (from The Craft of Baking)

• 3 ripe but firm bananas
• 1 sheet of puff pastry (we used store bought – the Sainsbury’s one is still really satisfactory), rolled out, cut to shape and refrigerated until firm (you should have enough to cover and tuck under skillet, depending on size – remember to prick with a fork before baking)
• 1/3 cup sugar + 3 tablespoons water + 2 big dollops of butter = caramel
  

  Rolled out dough

1. Prepare and cut fruit into thin (about 1/4 inch) pieces. Preheat oven to 175 C.

2. In your cast iron skillet or pan, dissolve sugar in water on high heat. Do not mix, watch very, very carefully until it reaches a light golden color. Remove from heat immediately as syrup will keep cooking. Whisk in butter.

3. Layer fruit over the caramel (as Karen DeMasco puts it, do it so they fit ’snugly’)

4. Cover with pastry, making sure to tuck under securely so that no caramel syrup seeps out unnecessarily.

5. Depending on size, this will bake for 40-50 mins.