All week they have been staring at me in the center of the kitchen island, taunting me with their hippy sweetness. Finally, I decided their time had come.
Upside-Down Pear Tart
Ingredients:
3 or 4 pears
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup sugar
cinnamon and dried ginger
pastry dough
1. Peel, halve, and core the pears.
2. Melt butter in a 9-10" saucepan on medium heat. Use an oven-safe pan if you have one. Add sugar and stir until it forms a sticky paste. Let simmer for a few minutes.
3. Add pears, core side up with the hippy parts on the edge of the saucepan and the stem sides pointing toward the center. Simmer covered on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes or until the sugar caramelizes and turns a deep amber colour.
4. While pears are cooking, preheat over to 425 and roll out pastry dough. I use a Betty Crocker recipe and technique passed down from my mother. 1 cup of flour, 1/3 cup of shortening, 1/2 tsp of salt cut together with a pastry cutter, stirred together with up to 3-4 T of cold water one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Roll out the dough until about 1/8" thick and cut into a 10" circle.
5. Once pears are cooked and sugar is caramelized, they are ready for the oven. If you have an oven safe saucepan, simply place the pastry dough circle on top of the pears and tuck the edges around the pears inside the pan. If you're like me and don't have an ovensafe pan, transfer the pears into a non-stick 9" cake pan, still core side up, place the pastry on top of the pears and tuck the edges around them.
6. Bake at 425F for 25-35 minutes until pastry is golden brown.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Then, with a plate covering the saucepan/cake pan, carefully turn upside down. It's a little scary, but the tart will come out easily. When you lift up the pan, you'll see your tart happily brown and sticky on the plate. Let cool before serving so the caramel sets properly.
No comments:
Post a Comment