“Tarte tatin has to be one of my favourite desserts of all time,” says chef Sabrina Ghayour.
“There is a fine art to cooking the apples and pastry perfectly and getting the caramel just dark enough and thick enough to glaze the apples without drying out.
“Apples aren’t the only fruits that make a great tatin, and while I wrote a recipe for quince tatin in my second book Sirocco, pineapple is also fantastic and marries well with my love for spice.
“This is lovely served warm with whipped cream, custard or ice cream.”
Pineapple, spiced caramel and thyme tarte tatin
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
Plain flour, for dusting
500g block of puff pastry
150g caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
500g fresh pineapple flesh (not canned), thinly sliced
25g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C, 180C fan, gas mark 6.
2. Select a large skillet or ovenproof frying pan for your tatin. Dust a clean work surface with a little flour and roll out the puff pastry into a circle slightly larger than your pan.
3. Place your pan over a medium heat, scatter the sugar evenly over the base and then sprinkle the cinnamon, pepper and thyme leaves evenly over the top. Once the pan heats up, swirl the sugar around in the pan (don’t stir) until it has dissolved and turns a deep caramel colour. Arrange the pineapple slices nicely in the pan (this will be the top of your tart), then add the butter around the pineapple, turn the heat up a little and cook for a few minutes until the pineapple starts to caramelise on all sides, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent the pineapple from sticking.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and place your pastry circle on top, tucking the edges carefully inside the sides of the pan all round, being careful not to burn your fingers on the hot caramel. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and deeply golden brown.
5. Wearing oven gloves, remove the pan from the oven, then place a serving plate larger than the pan over it and carefully flip the pan and plate over together to turn the tart out on to the plate.
‘Persiana Easy’ by Sabrina Ghayour (Mitchell Beazley, £28).
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