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Salted honey, pear and chocolate tarte tatin
Serves 4-6 Cakes, Bread and Pastries
Ingredients
- 1 sheet ready-rolled or 320g block puff pastry
- plain flour, for dusting, (if needed)
- 6 conference or other small pears (approx. 100g each)
- lemon juice, for squeezing
- 70g unsalted butter, chopped
- 70g caster sugar
- 70g clear honey
- 1⁄2tsp fine sea salt
- 50g walnut pieces
- 50g 60% dark chocolate, chopped
- whipped cream, to serve
Method
If using block pastry, roll out on a lightly floured work surface to 3mm thick.
Cut a 23cm disc from the rolled pastry, prick all over with a fork and put in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
Peel and halve the pears, then carefully remove the cores with a teaspoon to create as perfect halves as possible. Transfer to a bowl and toss with a little lemon juice as you go to prevent browning.
Melt the butter in a 20cm
ovenproof frying pan. Sprinkle
the sugar over and cook for
2 minutes until it begins to
dissolve, then stir in the honey
and salt. Arrange all but one
of the pear halves, cut-side up,
in the pan, with the narrowest
ends pointing to the centre –
you want them to fit snugly, as they will shrink slightly during
cooking. If there is a space left in the very centre, cut a round from the remaining
pear half and place it, cut-side
up, in the space.
Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes; the butter and sugar mixture should energetically bubble away and reduce down to a thick, syrupy, amber-coloured caramel. Shake the pan frequently and, now and then, spoon some caramel over the pears.
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C F/Gas 4. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the walnuts and chocolate over the pears, filling in any gaps between the pears with the nuts. Cover with the pastry disc and tuck the edges into the sides of the pan with a spoon.
Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Set aside for 5 minutes, then carefully invert on to a plate. Serve immediately with whipped cream.
This recipe is from the April 2022 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.
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