Banana Tarte Tatin
Caramelised bananas in butter and dark rum under all-butter puff pastry. Soft, jammy, and sticky with a shattering pastry crust. Warm and indulgent, this is a decadent upside-down tart scattered with toasted almonds and served with softly whipped cream!
Ingredients
- 250 gr all-butter puff pastry 1 sheet
- 5 bananas firm-ripe, about 500g peeled
- 100 gr caster sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 40 gr salted butter cold, cubed
- 1 tbsp dark rum
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or seeds of half a pod
- ⅓ tsp flaky salt
- lemon zest optional
For the whipped cream
- 200 ml Double cream well chilled
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
For serving
- 40 gr flaked almonds
Equipment
- frying pan stainless steel ovenproof
- frying pan for the almonds
Instructions
1. Prep
- Heat the oven to 180°C fan. Zest the lemon. Peel the bananas and halve each lengthways.
2. Make the caramel
- Put the sugar and water in a dry stainless pan over medium heat. Don't stir, just swirl. Take it to amber, about 7 minutes, pulling it off the heat just before the shade you want.
3. Butter and flavour it
- Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter (it will hiss and foam), then the vanilla, lemon zest and flaky salt. Let it sit 3 minutes to firm up. It should be a thick glossy caramel, not a pourable sauce.
4. Arrange the bananas
- Lay the banana halves cut-side down on the caramel, packed tightly from the outside in, trimming to fill the gaps. Drizzle over the rum. Don't cook them on the hob.
5. Lid it and bake
- Lay the chilled pastry over the top and tuck the overhang down inside the pan. Cut 3–4 steam vents in the centre. Bake for 30 minutes, until deep golden and risen.
6. Toast the almonds and whip the cream
- Toast the flaked almonds in a dry pan for about 4 minutes until golden, then tip onto a cold plate. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks and chill.
7. Rest, flip, finish
- Rest the tart a moment but not too long. Run a knife around the edge, put a plate over the pan, and flip in one movement. If it sticks, warm the base on the hob and try again. Scatter over the almonds and serve warm with the cream!
Notes
- Pan: 24cm ovenproof. For 20cm use 4 bananas and 80g sugar; for 28cm, 7 bananas and 130g.
- The bananas are the one ingredient not to compromise on. Firm-ripe, never black and collapsing.
- Have the butter beside the hob before you start the caramel, so you can stop the colour dead.
- Add the almonds after flipping, so they stay crisp.