Lemon Curd Meringue Tartlets

I have a real thing for meringues lately.  There is something so gorgeous about whipped up egg whites.  I remember as a child watching my mom whip up egg whites with fascination, they looked just like fluffy clouds.   When I saw this recipe I couldn't resist the mounds of toasted meringue piled on top of lemon curd and a nutty shortbread crust. 

I actually modified the original recipe, I have a serious bounty of meyer lemons right now, thanks to friends, farmers markets, and our own lovely little tree which is bearing fruit for the first time.  I also used a faster method to making the lemon curd, rather than using a double boiler which takes eons, just whisk constantly and somewhat vigorously over a med-low heat until the curd coats a wooden spoon, about 12-15 minutes.  Also be sure to pour your curd through a sieve before chilling, it gets rid of any errant egg white that may have scrambled and other undesirables in your curd.  :)

Texas Big Hairs Lemon-Lime Meringue Tarts
adapted from  Rebecca Rather, the Pastry Queen
Crust:
1 ½ cups pecans or sliced almonds
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt

Lemon Curd:
10 extra-large egg yolks (reserve the egg whites for the meringue)
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Meringue:
10 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
3 cups sugar

To make the crusts:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Arrange the pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast them in the oven for 7-9 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. (If using almond slices, toast for 5-7 minutes). Coarsely chop the pecans.
With your fingers, butter eight 4 3/8 inch, 1-cup capacity tartlet pans.
Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add the vanilla, then gradually add the flour and salt and combine on low speed until incorporated. Add the nuts and mix on low speed just until they are incorporated. Form the dough into a ball – it will be sticky – and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, divide into 8 equal portions and press into the prepared pans, making sure it comes up to the top edge of the pans. If the dough sticks to your hands, dust them with flour as often as necessary.
Bake the crust about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 30 minutes before filling with lemon-lime curd.
To make the curd:
Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lime juice and zest in a large heavy sauce pan.  Whisk constantly over med-low heat until the curd thickens, and will coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 12-15 minutes.  Remove from heat and whisk in the two tablespoons of butter until smooth.  Let cool slightly and then pour through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap directly on the curd (to prevent a skin from forming).  Refrigerate the curd for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days. For express cooling, freeze it for at least 1 hour.
To make the meringue:
Set a large, perfectly clean metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Pour in the egg whites and sugar. Heat the egg whites and sugar while whisking constantly until the sugar melts and there are no visible grains in the meringue. Take a little meringue mixture and rub it between your fingers to make sure all sugar grains have melted. Remove the meringue from over the simmering water and whip it with a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on low speed for 5 minutes; increase the speed to high and beat 5 minutes longer, until the meringue is stiff and shiny.
Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the broiler. To assemble the tarts, spoon the chilled lemon-lime curd into the crusts, filling them about three-quarters of the way to the top. Pile the meringue on top of the curd. Style the meringue with your fingers by plucking at it to tease the meringue into jagged spikes.
Set the tarts on the middle rack of the oven and broil until the meringue topping turns golden brown, about 1 minute. Watch the tarts closely, as they can turn from browned to burnt in a matter of seconds. (If you are using a kitchen torch {like I did!}, hold it 2 to 3 inches away from the meringue and move the flame slowly around the meringue until it is browned all over.)

The recipe says the tarts should be served the day they are made, but we found they were much tastier the next day, the crust had softened a bit from the curd and the flavors seemed to mingle better.  Just keep the tartlets in the fridge and they should be good for several days.  

Deep Dish Butter Tarts

I made these rich little treats quite a while ago for my Supper Club.  If you're from Canada you're probably familiar with the butter tart.  My mom used to make them quite often when I was a kid, so they're quite nostalgic for me.  I guess they're similar to pecan pie, but there is nothing quite like a gorgeous little butter tart.  I loved this recipe since it uses muffin tins so you get that much more tart crust.  Delish!

Pie Crust Pastry:

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water

 

Butter Tart Filling:

1/3 cup (70 grams) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (210 grams) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (60 ml) light cream (half-and-half) (10% butterfat)

1/2 cup (120 ml) raisins or chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

Pie Crust Pastry:  In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour. 

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch (10 cm) rounds. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm the dough. 

 

Butter Tart Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Stir in the cream. If using nuts and/or raisins, place a spoonful in the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked tart shells with the filling. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is puffed and set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 12 - 4 inch tarts.


Linked to:
Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Blueberry Apricot Galette

Had I known Galettes were so ridiculously easy to make and insanely delicious I would have been making these lovely free-form tarts for years.  The dough literally took me about five minutes to make, and the filling about three minutes.  The fresh colorful fruit makes for a gorgeous dessert, and it was a perfect light treat for a warm summer's evening.

I got this recipe out of my Baking with Julia book, which is one of my favorites.  While the recipes in it range from very easy to very difficult, I love how there is loads of information and detail about each step in a recipe.  I recently made the brioche dough which I was initially totally intimidated by, but the recipe was practically foolproof.

There are two versions on how to make the dough, one by hand and one by food processor.  I used and included the food processor version which is super easy and quick.  Use any fruit you like, although the recipe cautions that strawberries tend to make the Galette a bit soggy since they're so watery.  This recipe calls for only half of the recipe of Galette dough, just wrap up the other half and stick it in the freezer.  When you're ready to use it just take it out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge overnight.

Galette Dough
from Baking with Julia - Flo Braker


3 Tbls. sour cream (or yogurt or buttermilk)
1/3 cup (approximately) ice water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
7 Tbls. cold unsalted butter, cut into 6-8 pieces

Makes two 8-inch galettes

To make the dough with a food processor: combine ingredients in the work bowl of your food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse to combine. Drop butter in and pulse 8-10 times, until butter pieces are pea sized or smaller. With the machine running, add the sour cream mixture and process just until the dough forms moist soft curds.)
Turn the dough out of the bowl. Divide it in half. Press each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

For the Filling:

For filling
1 1/2 cups mixed fresh berries or sliced fruit
1 Tbls. plus 1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbls. hone
1 Tbls. cold unsalted butter


Makes 4 to 6 servings
Preparing the Galette: Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remember this uses a half recipe of the above galette dough. Put dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll into an 11 inch diameter circle about 1/8 inch thick. Continuously sprinkle flour under the dough while rolling to prevent sticking. Once rolled out, transfer dough to your prepared baking sheet. Spread the berries over the dough, leaving a 2-3 inch border. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the sugar over the fruit and drizzle on the honey. Cut the butter into slivers and scatter it on top of the fruit. Fold the uncovered border of the dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to pleat as you lift it up and work your way around the Galette. Dip a pastry brush in water, give the edge of the crust a light coating, and then sprinkle the crust with the remaining teaspoon of sugar.
Baking the Galette: Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until pastry is golden and crisp. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the Galette rest on the sheet for 10 minutes. Slip a wide spatula or small baking sheet under the Galette and slide it onto the cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, cutting the tart with a pizza wheel or a sharp knife. Serve the same day.

Linked to:
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Sweet Treats Thursday
This Chick Cooks Link Party 
Sweet Tooth Friday 
Sweets for a Saturday

Milky Way Tart

Yum.  Way better than a milky way chocolate bar for sure.  I would liken this more to a coffee crisp bar minus the wafers since I don't think there is any coffee in a Milky Way, but it's a lovely name don't you think?  I got this recipe from my Flour cookbook, and it is simply heavenly.

This tart is fairly simple to make, just know that most of the components require quite a bit of resting time in the fridge, so this really isn't something you can throw together in a couple hours.  The tart starts with a Pâte Sucrée tart shell, which is crisp, slightly sweet, and thoroughly delicious.  Top that with rich caramel sauce, then comes the glorious milk chocolate coffee whipped cream,  then more caramel and finally milk chocolate shavings.  Mmmmm.

These pictures were taken only moments before I dropped the leftovers all over my chair.  Tragic, but lesson learned: tarts belong on plates, not cake pedestals.

 

Milky Way Tart
from Flour

Ingredients

For the milk chocolate mousse

5 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

 

For the caramel filling

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the tart

1 baked and cooled 10-inch Pâte Sucrée tart shell
3- to 4-inch slab milk chocolate, at warm room temperature, for decorating

Pâte Sucrée Recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick/114 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (140 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until pale and light. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the flour and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the flour mixes with the butter-sugar mixture. The mixture will look like wet sand. Add the egg yolk and continue to mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the dough comes together.

  Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour. (At this point, the dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. If frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before using.)

If making a pie shell, have ready a 9-inch pie pan dish. If making a tart shell, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place a 10-inch tart ring on top. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let soften at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Using a rolling pin, bang and flatten the dough into a disk about 1/2 inch thick. Flour the work surface, and then sprinkle the dough disk with a little flour. Roll out the dough into a circle 10 to 11 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick for a 9-inch pie shell, or about 12 inches in diameter and just under 1/4 inch thick for a 10-inch tart shell. Make sure the work surface is well floured so the dough doesn’t stick to it, and make sure the disk itself is floured well enough to keep the rolling pin from sticking to it. Roll from the center of the disk outward, and gently rotate the disk a quarter turn after each roll to ensure the disk is evenly stretched into a nice circle. Don’t worry if the dough breaks a bit, especially toward the edges. You can easily patch any tears once you have lined the pan.

Roll the dough circle around the pin and then unfurl it on top of the 9-inch pie pan or the 10-inch tart ring. Press the dough well into the bottom and sides of the pan or ring, and use any scraps or odd pieces to patch up any tears or missing bits. Make sure the entire interior is well covered with dough, and then press one last time all the way around to ensure any holes have been patched. Trim the edge of the dough so it is even with the rim of the pan or ring.

Refrigerate the pastry shell for at least 30 minutes. The gluten needs a little time to relax so the pastry doesn’t shrink in the oven. (The pastry shell can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 1 day or frozen for up to 2 weeks. Bake directly from the refrigerator or freezer.)

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack. If you are making a tart shell, remove the tart ring. Proceed as directed in individual recipes.

Make the mousse

Place the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine the cream and instant coffee powder and heat over medium-high heat until the mixture is scalded, which means when bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan but the cream is not boiling.

Immediately pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and let stand for about 1 minute. Then whisk gently until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small container, stir in the salt, cover tightly, and refrigerate until it is absolutely, completely chilled, at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. A few hours is not enough. (Because the cream has been heated, it will not whip properly unless it is very cold.)

Make the caramel filling

Place the sugar in the bottom of a medium saucepan and slowly pour in the water. Stir gently to moisten the sugar. If any sugar crystals are clinging to the sides of the pan, brush them down with a pastry brush dipped in water. Place the pan over medium-high heat and leave it undisturbed until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. (You want to avoid crystallization of the syrup, which can happen if the pan is disturbed before the sugar starts to color.) Then continue to boil rapidly without moving the pan until the sugar syrup starts to caramelize. This will take 3 to 4 minutes: the sugar syrup will boil furiously; then as it thickens, it will boil more languidly; and then you will see some of the syrup starting to color and darken around the edge of the pan.

When you see color in the pan, gently swirl it in a circular motion so the sugar caramelizes evenly. The syrup will start to turn golden brown, and then as you swirl the pan, the syrup will continue to get a bit darker and then darker still. To check the true color of the caramel, tilt the pan so you can see the syrup covering the bottom. This is the actual color of the caramel, and you want to keep cooking the caramel until this layer is a deep amber-brown. It takes just seconds for caramel to go from great to burnt, so be sure to tilt and check constantly.

As soon as the caramel is ready, slowly add the cream and then reduce the heat to low. Be careful. The steam that rises when the cream hits the caramel is extremely hot. Let the caramel and cream sputter for a few seconds until the mixture settles down, and then whisk to mix in the cream. Turn the heat up to medium and whisk together the caramel and cream (the mixture will have hardened a bit) for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they come together. Whisk in the butter, salt, and vanilla. Remove from the heat, pour into an airtight heatproof container, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.

Assemble the tart

 Place the tart shell on a flat plate. Spread about three-fourths of the caramel filling evenly in the bottom of the tart shell. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment or a hand-held mixer or a whisk, whip the mousse on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. Mound the mousse in the tart shell, and spread it evenly over the caramel filling. Drizzle the remaining one-fourth caramel filling in a crisscross pattern on top of the mousse. Using the back of a small knife or a vegetable peeler, shave curls from the milk chocolate slab. (Make sure the chocolate is slightly warm, or you will get splinters instead of curls.) Decorate the tart with the curls. Refrigerate the tart for at least 30 minutes before serving. (The tart can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.)

Linked to:
Sweets for a Saturday 
Sweet Indulgences Sunday 
Melt in Your Mouth Monday 
Sweet Treats Party 
This Chick Cooks Link Party 

Cherry Lime Mini Tarts

Mmmm boy do I love cherries.  When I was growing up we had several gorgeous cherry trees in our yard so my mom was always making delicious cherry treats.  We barely have what you could call a yard now and definitely no cherry trees, but we made our way to Brentwood, CA a few weeks ago and had a great time cherry picking with the kids. 

I froze and canned most of the cherries that weren't eaten fresh, but I did make these delicious cherry lime mini tarts.  They are really easy and quick to make, and the cherries and lime make a perfect tart/sweet combination.

Cherry Lime Cups
from Martha Stewart

for the crust:
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces plus more for muffin pan
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the filling:
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (from 3 limes)
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
9 cherries, halved and pitted

Make crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly butter six standard muffin cups.  In a food processor, process butter, flour, sugar, and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add yolks and vanilla and process until dough comes together when pressed (dough will be crumbly).

Divide dough into 6 pieces.  Roll each into a ball and place in a muffin cup, pressing evenly into bottom and up sides.  Place a paper cupcake liner into each muffin cup over dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake until edges are dry, 15 minutes.  Remove liners and weights; bake until crusts are dry and barely golden, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, make filling: in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, sugar, lime juice, and salt.  Place 3 cherry halves into each crust and divide filling among each.  Bake until filling is set, about 25 minutes.  With the tip of a knife or small offset spatula, remove cups from pan.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Linked to:
This Week's Cravings
Sweet Tooth Friday 
Sweets for a Saturday 
Sweet Indulgences Sunday 
Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Lemongrass Pear Tart

The challenge from Dessert Wars this month was to create a "green" dessert in honor of St Patrick's Day.  There were two lists of green ingredients, one traditional and one not so traditional.  Bakers had to pick an ingredient from each list for their dessert.

This was my first attempt at any sort of tart, and it turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself! ;)
I used a tart pastry recipe from Baked Explorations, filled the crust with a lemongrass custard, topped it with fresh pears, and finished it with some ginger spiced whipped cream.  Even my Dad liked it, and he's not one for strange food combinations so I deem this experiment a success!

For the tart dough
from Baked Explorations
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 large egg, beaten

Place the sugar, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.
Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse sand, which will be about 8-10 one-second pulses.  Add the egg and pulse just until the dough begins to form a mass.  Form the dough into a disk, wrap it tightly in plastic and refrigerate it at least an hour or up to overnight.

Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour.  Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough about 1/4-inch thick into either a rectangle about 15 inches long or into a round about 12 inches in diameter.  Ever so gently, guide the dough into the tart pan, without pulling it, and lightly press it into place.  Roll the rolling pin over the pan to trim off excess dough.  Transfer the pan to the freezer for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 375.
Line the tart shell with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill it 3/4 full with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake for 15 minutes, carefully remove the foil and the weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until it’s lightly browned.  Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool.

For the custard

from Nick Narin

200ml/7fl oz milk 

200ml/7fl oz cream 

1 stick lemongrass 

2 tbsp caster sugar 

3 free-range egg yolks

Place the milk, cream and lemongrass into a saucepan over a low heat and gently heat until steaming, but not boiling. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for at least ten minutes.
Place the caster sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk together.
Remove the lemongrass from the milk mixture and gradually pour the milk mixture into the bowl of eggs and sugar, whisking constantly.
Return the mixture to a low heat and simmer, stirring continuously, until the custard coats the back of a spoon, then strain into a jug.



Linked to
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday 
Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Banana Tarte Tatin

Well, this was a bit of a mess.  I bought puff pastry a few weeks back for some BBQ recipe that I'll never make, so Mike suggested a dessert instead.  And who am I to turn down a request for dessert.  I had just been looking through the dessert chapter in Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook and saw a yummy looking recipe for Banana Tarte Tatin which looks ridiculously easy.  So where did I go wrong?

Have I mentioned that I like to play fast and loose with measurements?  Well I also do with ingredients.  I'm still working on getting my well-stocked pantry together, and I simply don't have any "superfine" sugar.  Okay, I didn't even know what it was until this recipe went awry and I looked it up.  Anyways, I also used organic sugar which is (at least from Trader Joe's) very coarse.  So I melted my butter and added the sugar.  There was nothing to really cook since it was a thick paste.  Not much caramelizing going on here.  So I added more butter.  A lot more.  Another 1/4 cups worth more.  Now we've got something to cook, so I cooked it.  And cooked it.  And cooked it.  And the sugar just didn't want to dissolve.

Okay.  Mike suggested just to go ahead with the recipe since plenty of time in the oven would certainly result in dissolved sugar.  It also took considerably longer, um, almost an hour for the puff pastry to bake through.  It came out nicely (I left the turning out bit up to Mike), but it wasn't the somewhat healthy confection I had hoped for.  I added some whipped cream (probably totally unnecessary by this point), and hoo boy was it sweet.  My teeth hurt just thinking about it.   Liam loved it, and then was bouncing off the walls for the next hour.  Perhaps not wise to serve 15 minutes before bedtime.  It was fairly tasty, but not enough so considering how many calories it was, what with the extra butter I added. 

I'm going to try this recipe again (I have another sheet of puff pastry in the freezer), but with pears and will use different sugar, at the very least just regular granulated sugar, as well as cutting the sugar and butter a bit rather than adding more.  Ah well, they can't all be winners.

Jamie Oliver's Banana Tarte Tatin



Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter

 3/4 cup superfine sugar
4 large bananas
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 orange
plain flour, for dusting
1 sheet puff pastry
optional: crème fraîche
optional: vanilla ice cream and a few tablespoons of desiccated coconut

To make your caramel bananas
• Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4
• Cut your butter into cubes and put into a sturdy deep-sided baking tray approximately 19 x 30cm
• Place the tray on a low heat, let the butter melt, then add the sugar and stir constantly until completely combined
• Continue to cook for about 5 minutes or until the sugar has all dissolved and the mixture is golden and caramelized. By the time this happens the mixture will be roasting hot so be very careful and whatever you do, DON’T be tempted to put your fingers in the mixture as you’ll give yourself a nasty burn
• Meanwhile, peel the bananas, halve them lengthways, and lay them carefully on top of the golden caramel
• Remove from the heat, then sprinkle over the cinnamon and finely grate over the zest of half your orange

To make your pastry topping
• Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with flour
• Rather than putting your pastry down flat and rolling it out, place it on its side (see the picture opposite) and roll it from there, as this will give you a lighter, crisper texture
• Roll it out until you have a rectangle shape about the same size as your tray and about
0.5cm thick
• Drape your pastry over your rolling pin and carefully lay it on the baking tray, gently tucking it around the bananas to make sure they’re well covered, with no gaps
• Using a knife or fork, prick the pastry a few times
• Place the tray at the top of the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden

To serve your tarte tatin
• When your tarte tatin is ready you must turn it out at once or it will end up sticking to the baking tray. Again, you want to be very careful and make sure you don’t burn yourself on that hot caramel mixture
• To turn the tarte out, cover your hand with a folded tea towel, carefully hold the tray with a serving plate or board on top and gently turn it over
• Using the tip of a knife, pull a corner of the pastry up to check if it’s all cooked underneath (if not, pop it back into the oven for another couple of minutes), then ease the whole thing out of the tray
• If using crème fraîche, put it into a bowl, grate over the rest of your orange zest and stir well
• If using vanilla ice cream, sprinkle a few tablespoons of desiccated coconut on a plate and quickly roll a scoop of ice cream in it until coated
• Serve your tarte tatin with a dollop of crème fraîche or coated ice cream and eat immediately!