Thursday, February 24, 2011

Asian Pear Tarte Tatin























Strolling around my local Pick 'n Pay yesterday I came across these Asian Pears which looked so crisp and juicy I had to get some to try!

This fruit also known as Apple Pear is exactly as the name suggests, it looks similar to an apple and has the same crunchy texture but has the distinct flavour of a pear. An Asian Pear does not need to go through a ripening process but is picked and immediately ready to eat. It is not generally used in baking as it loses its snappy, cool texture. This fruit is very well suited to a summer salad and will be great in an American or Asian Style slaw however I needed to make something to cure my sweet tooth and this is what I made.

Asian Pear Tarte Tatin

Makes 4 small

1 Asian Pear

200g granulated sugar

20g butter

4 by 5cm squares of puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C, spray and cook a muffin / Yorkshire Pudding tin.

Peel the pear and cut into quarters, cut the seeds away and using a small knife, shape the quarter into a rough round shape. Do this to all four pieces.

Pour the sugar into a clean pan, on the highest temperature melt the sugar twisting the pan occasionally ( don't stir) until melted and golden.

Add the butter and swivel the pan until melted and combined with the sugar.

Pour into 4 holes of the muffin tin. Place the Asian Pear rounds on on top of the sugar and pour a little extra over each pear.

Place the squares of puff pastry over the pear and tuck in the edges.

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Picture and recipe Copyright by Tamsyn Wells

2 comments:

Homemade Heaven said...

Asian Pears have become a wonderful treat - they are rather pricey, but so worth it. I made a Waldorf salad with them, replacing the apples with Asian Pears - really turned out great.

Unknown said...

Thats a good idea too. I must say they are really great, so crunchy.