You create a caramel base at the bottom of the pan, top with sliced fruit such as apples, pears, or quince. Top again with a pastry crust, either rolled out dough or puff pastry, tuck the edges of the pastry into the pan, bake until bubbly and brown, and then carefully turn out onto a serving dish. The result? A beautifully browned crust topped with a lovely arrangement of fruit cooked in a caramel sauce. One should be enough, but be sure to roll it out a bit and trim the square puff pastry to a circle to match the size of your cast iron skillet. Roll the pastry dough out to 11 inches if using a 9-inch cast iron pan and 12 inches if using a 10-inch pan.
Best Types of Pears to Use in Tarte Tatin
This recipe calls for bosc pears, but you can use other pear varieties, like bartlett or anjou. Just be sure that the fruits are still firm and not too soft. Use pears that are ripe but still firm enough to hold their shape when sliced. Look for unwrinkled stems when choosing pears to buy.
Other Fruit to Use in Tarte Tatin
Good tart baking apples Quince Most other fruits will be too soft for the baking time required here, but for plums, try our Plum Upside Down Cake instead!
More French Recipes for That Parisienne Feeling
Chocolate Macarons How to Make French Crepes How to Make Creme Brulee Classic Chocolate Mousse Le Tallyrand
1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup full fat sour cream
For the filling:
2 pounds firm Bosc pears (about 5 pears) 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons sugar plus 2/3 cup sugar 4 tablespoons butter 2 teaspoons minced candied ginger Light grating fresh nutmeg (or a dash ground nutmeg)
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour until you see small, pea-sized pieces of butter. Stir in the sour cream with a fork. Form the dough into a ball and shape into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling out. While waiting for the dough to chill, prep the pears and the caramel in steps 2 through 5. Core the pear quarters and the half. As you peel and cut the pears, place them in a bowl and sprinkle the lemon juice over them to keep them from turning brown. Sprinkle the pear pieces with 2 tablespoons sugar and toss to distribute the sugar and lemon juice over all the pears. The caramel is hot and liquid-y and can easily spill. So, take care and work quickly. Don’t worry if some of the liquid spills out. Just make sure to wear oven mitts (or long sleeves) and an apron to protect yourself as you do the flip. Flip the tarte over while the tarte tatin is still hot. That way the caramel will not make the tarte stick to the pan as you invert it. The pears will likely have moved a bit in the flip-over. So, rearrange them with a fork (they’re hot!) to form an attractive pattern.
