Pear Tarte Tatin

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Description

Tarte tatin is a classic French dessert, essentially an upside-down pie. Pears are caramelized in a sugar-butter mixture in an oven-safe skillet, covered with crust, and baked in the oven.

Ingredients

  • 1 (15 ounce) package ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 5 firm pears
  • 2 tablespoons good quality bourbon whiskey
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ⅔ cup white sugar
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions

  1. Remove refrigerated pie crust from package
  2. and follow manufacturer’s suggestions for unrolling crust. Set aside.
  3. Combine nutmeg
  4. ginger
  5. and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl.
  6. Peel
  7. quarter
  8. and core 4 pears. Slice each quarter into 3 slices
  9. from core end to bottom
  10. and place in a large bowl. Cut remaining pear in half; peel
  11. and core one half and add to the bowl. Peel
  12. core
  13. and slice the other half as directed above and add to the bowl. Drizzle pears with bourbon and sprinkle with spice-sugar mix
  14. tossing to evenly coat.
  15. Melt butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add 2/3 cup white sugar and salt to the melted butter
  16. stirring to combine until mixture bubbles
  17. 2 to 3 minutes. Place the single pear half in the center of the skillet. Fan remaining pear slices around the center
  18. core end to the outside of the skillet and stem end toward the center. If possible
  19. turn the pieces in the same direction. Keep adding pear slices
  20. filling in any gaps
  21. until they are all in the skillet.
  22. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook
  23. undisturbed
  24. until pears are fork-tender and color develops to the liquid
  25. about 20 minutes.
  26. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place a baking sheet on a rack in the lower third of the oven.
  27. Remove skillet from heat and place unbaked pie shell on top of the fruit
  28. using a fork to tuck the edges of the pie shell toward the bottom of the skillet. Place skillet on the prepared baking sheet in the preheated oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  29. Bake until crust is brown
  30. 28 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Place a heat-safe plate
  31. larger than the skillet
  32. upside down over the crust.
  33. Use oven mitts to grab the plate and skillet together and quickly flip the skillet contents onto the plate; this move is tricky and requires some forearm strength and dexterity. After the flip
  34. if the contents are not centered on the plate
  35. use a spatula to gently move to the center. Add any fruit that remained in the skillet
  36. and drizzle any remaining liquid over the top of the tarte tatin.
  37. Allow to sit 15-20 minutes
  38. then serve warm.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins

Servings: 8

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