Tarte Tatin is an incredible French dessert that traditionally
consists of apples simmered in caramel on top of the stove and then baked with
a circle of puff pastry dough nestled on top.
It’s then flipped over and plated to reveal a showstopping display of tender fruit bathed in a rich caramel on a bed of buttery pastry. It’s
phenomenal.
This is a much simpler recipe from Bon Appetit that uses the
same idea to showcase bananas. It's prepared as individual servings and
instead of making a caramel for the bottom, you simply butter the
ramekins and line the bottoms with some brown sugar. Then you arrange
slices of banana and top with a circle of purchased puff pastry. It’s
probably one of the easiest to prepare desserts
imaginable.
You can certainly use store-bought puff pastry if you have a
brand you like. I made a simple butter
pastry called Rough Puff. It’s a very streamlined version of puff pastry
that isn’t difficult or complicated, it just takes a bit of time for folding
and chilling if have the luxury of planning ahead.
This is a super simple preparation fashioned out of basic ingredients that
turns our to be a very satisfying dessert.
If you want to dial it up, you can easily enhance your servings with a dollop of
whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Quite a good way to enjoy bananas with pleasure.
Bench notes:
- I added a pinch cinnamon mixed in with the brown sugar.
- Any size ramekin works as long as they are at least 1 1/2” deep. If
you don’t have ramekins, you can use an 8” square baking dish, placing a
whole sheet of puff pastry in tact on top.
- The Rough Puff dough comes together very quickly in a food
processor. It will not look like a dough but rather like a slightly moist
cottage cheese. The important thing is to keep visible pieces of butter
in tact and avoid blending it all into the flour. When shaping and folding the dough, do your best to keep
the edges straight and aligned. Lightly dust with flour as
you go and then brush off any excess flour before folding.
Banana Tartes Tatin
adapted from Bon Appetit
Serves 4
2 oz (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter @ room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz) brown sugar
4 firm ripe bananas
1 package of puff pastry, thawed
Or
Rough Puff Pastry
1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 oz) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 oz (8 tablespoons) very cold butter
6 tablespoons (3 oz) very cold water
Rough Puff Pastry
1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 oz) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 oz (8 tablespoons) very cold butter
6 tablespoons (3 oz) very cold water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place four 4” x 1 3/4” ramekin dishes on a
rimmed baking sheet. Butter liberally with 1 tablespoon of butter for each dish.
Evenly distribute 2 tablespoons brown sugar on the bottom of
each ramekin. Peel the bananas and cut
on a diagonal into 1/4" slices. Overlap
slices of 1 banana per dish over the sugar, arranging in concentric circles to
cover the bottom.
Cut rounds of puff pastry 4 1/2” in diameter. Top each dish with 1 puff pastry round,
tucking in the edges to fit.
Bake until the pastry is golden and puffed and the filling is
bubbly, about 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from
oven and carefully invert onto serving plates.
If you’d like to make your own dough, place the flour and
salt in the bowl of a food processor and combine. Cut the cold butter
into 1/2” cubes and add. Pulse just until the butter is the size of small
peas. Add the cold water and pulse just until the mixture resembles
something like a slightly moist cottage cheese. Gather the dough and
place on a piece of plastic wrap. Form a disc, seal it tightly and chill
for 1/2 hour.
Lightly flour a work surface. Roll the dough out to
about an 8” x 4” rectangle, lightly flouring as needed. Fold the shorter
sides of the dough in equal thirds like a letter, keeping the edges as evenly
lined up as possible. With the open edges perpendicular to you and
seam side down, roll it again into an 8” x 4” rectangle, lightly dusting with
flour as needed and then using a pastry brush to remove any excess flour before
folding. Turn it and fold the shorter sides of the dough again into
thirds. Repeat this process one more time for a total of three
times. If at any point the dough starts becoming too soft or elastic, let
it rest in the refrigerator for a while before continuing. Lastly,
roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1/4” thick. Take both shorter
sides and fold toward the center like a book, keeping the edges as straight as
possible. Then fold one side over the other so there are 4 equal layers
on top of one another. Wrap the dough and rest in the refrigerator for
1/2 hour.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is
about 1/8” thick. Brush off any excess flour. Cut out circles 4 1/2”
in diameter and place on a baking sheet. Chill until ready to use.
