Apricot tarte tatin

Tamara West

The story goes that this classic upside-down tart was created by accident by two French sisters named Tatin. Classically it is made with apples but apricots are just as good. If in season, use fresh, small apricots. If not, tinned are fine — just make sure you drain them well.

Ingredients

45 g	Butter
⅔ cup	Brown sugar
2 cans	Apricot halves, well-drained and patted dry with paper towels (Main)
1 sheet	Puff pastry, thawed
1 tub	Greek yoghurt, mascarpone or vanilla icecream, to serve

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200C. Keep pastry chilled in the fridge until ready to use.
2. Melt butter and sugar together in a medium ovenproof frying pan (the one you will cook the tarte tatin in) over medium-high heat until it turns to a caramel, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Arrange apricot halves in a circular pattern on top of the caramel (you will end up with a few apricot halves left over).
4. Cut off the corners of the square piece of pastry so it is a roundish shape.
5. Place the pastry on top of the apricots and tuck the edges in around the pan tightly (you can use the back of a spoon to do this).
6. Place pan back on the heat for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden.
7. Remove from the oven and wait a few minutes before carefully inverting out on to a plate. Do this by placing a plate upside-down on top of the pan and flipping both over (be careful to use oven mitts or tea towels so as not to burn yourself — the pan will still be hot).
8. Cut into pieces and serve with the creamy accompaniment of your choice.