Recipe: Spiced Pear Tarte Tatin

Spiced Pear Tarte Tatin. Photo / Olivia Moore - That Green Olive

Tarte tatin is one of those recipes that looks impressive, yet is very easy and affordable to put together.

It requires only a few simple ingredients - fruit, pastry, sugar and butter. I’ve (literally) spiced mine up with star anise and cardamom, which beautifully complement autumn’s favourite fruit: pears.

A few things to keep in mind: when making your caramel, don’t stir the sugar! This may cause your caramel to separate; you can gently swirl the pan instead to ensure it cooks evenly.

When arranging your pears, you can lay them in a fan or spiral pattern - keep in mind that when you invert the dessert to serve, the first layers you place down will appear on top.

If you don’t fancy the spices - leave them out or use your favourites instead (cinnamon and ginger would be perfect). You can also use apples instead of pears; whatever you do, make sure you slice your fruit thinly so that they cook nice and soft.

Visit Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com

Spiced Pear Tarte Tatin

Serves 4-6

● 250g puff pastry

● 50g butter

● 3 pears (550g after peeling and coring), sliced 1-2mm thick

● 100g sugar

● 1 star anise

● 3 cardamom pods, bruised

Method

1. In a medium skillet or oven-proof pan, stir sugar and ¼ cup water together. Set over a medium heat and bring to a bubble. Once bubbling, leave to cook until it turns a golden brown. Resist the urge to stir - you can gently swirl the pan if the caramel looks darker in places.

2. When the syrup is golden brown, add butter and allow to melt. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, and cook for a further 3 minutes.

3. Add pear slices, stir with a wooden spoon and cook for 15 minutes, swirling occasionally, until soft. Remove from the heat, then remove pears from the pan.

4. When cool enough to handle, arrange pears back into the bottom of your pan, forming a fan pattern.

5. Preheat your oven to 180C or 160C fan bake.

6. On a clean surface, roll your pastry out to a circle roughly 3mm thick. Trim to cut out a circle to fit the base of your pan. Prick in several places with a fork.

7. Place the pastry disc over the pears in the pan. Tuck the edges of the pastry under - you want all of the pears to be tucked inside. Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

8. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before carefully inverting onto a serving platter. Serve hot.