Recipe: Pear Tarte Tatin
Ingredients
- 4 large firm-ripe pears
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean
- Puff Pastry dough (1 sheet)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit on the "bake" setting and put oven rack in the middle.
Peel and halve pears and then core each half (preferably with a melon-ball cutter). Keep in lemon-infused water until ready to cook to keep from browning.
Cut vanilla bean in half length-wise. Scrape seeds into sugar and mix well so that seeds are evenly distributed. (You can do this step 1-2 weeks ahead of time.)
Melt butter over moderate heat in a 9-inch well-seasoned cast-iron skillet.
While the butter is melting, place the pears on a towel (or paper towels), cut side down.
As soon as the butter is melted, place vanilla bean in an "X" pattern in the middle of the skillet (optional) and then sprinkle in 1/2 cup of the vanilla sugar so that sugar is evenly distributed.
Arrange the pears, cut side up, in skillet with wide parts at rim of skillet and the narrow parts pointed to the center of the "X."
Cook WITHOUT STIRRING OR SHAKING until sugar turns a deep golden caramel, around 10 minutes. Watch carefully because sugar has to caramelize but not burn.
Allow pears to cool in skillet until you can safely handle the pan. Caramelized sugar can cause a nasty burn.
Roll out puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round.
Arrange puff pastry dough over the top of the skillet and the caramelized pears, and trim with a knife to fit the edge of the skillet. Once trimmed, tuck edge of the puff pastry dough inside rim of skillet and around the edges of the pears with the back of a knife.
Bake tart until pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Take out of the oven and allow to cool.
Take a round serving plate (slightly larger than skillet) and place top side down over skillet. Holding the skillet and the plate tightly together, invert tart onto plate, tapping the bottom of the skillet to make sure all the tart leaves the skillet. You can take the vanilla bean halves out or leave them in; just don't serve them.
Serve tart warm with ice cream or whipped cream. You can reheat if you make this ahead of time.
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