Banana tarte Tatin

Have you ever made a banana tarte Tatin? To tell you the truth, I have never even heard of it before. Until I discovered this recipe in one of Gordon Ramsay’s books. Don’t let the French name scare you. This is one of the most simple desserts I’ve ever made. In short, tarte Tatin is a French upside-down pastry. Usually filled with apples caramelised in sugar and butter. Sounds delicious!

Chef Ramsay changed it a little bit by using bananas and peppercorns. I liked the unusual idea a lot, so I decided to follow it. However, I also made some slight changes to his recipe of the banana tarte Tatin. I swapped butter with coconut oil, sugar with honey and I used only pink peppercorns.

You will need an ovenproof pan (ø 20 cm) for this recipe. Yes, it is going to be little, small and cute, but enough for two people to enjoy a great dessert.

Ingredients for the banana tarte Tatin:

• 1 roll of puff pastry dough
• 3 large bananas (ripe)
• 2 Tbsp of pink peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp of coconut oil (solid)
• 2 Tbsp of honey

Start by preheating the oven to 200º C. Unroll the puff pastry dough and cut out a circle slightly larger than the rim of your pan. For example, if the pan’s diameter is 20 cm, the dough’s should be 24 cm. How to cut a circle out of the dough? Simple. Place a plate on it, still be sure that’s larger than the pan, and follow the shape around with a knife. If your pan has a square shape just simply measure it with a ruler. But still, add ca 2 cm on each side when you cut the dough.

Next, spread the coconut oil on the base of the pan, add the honey and sprinkle with a third of peppercorns. I just simply crushed them in between my palms. Done that, peel and cut the bananas into ca 4 cm thick pieces. Check how high is the rim of the pan and try to make them the same hight. Then place the banana pieces (cut side down) in the pan. You can arrange them in circles or rows. Whatever suits you more.

After that, sprinkle another third of the pink peppercorns on the bananas. You did all this in only 5 minutes. Now it is time to cover everything with the puff pastry dough. Take the cut out circle or square, place it over the bananas and gently fold the edges of the dough down the sides of the pan. Help yourself with your finger and nicely tuck the dough between the banana and the pan.

There is one more thing to do before you start baking. Using a sharp knife, pierce the dough a couple of times. I did about ten mini holes, just because I wanted to be sure that the dough would be baked through. Next, put the pan on the stove for a couple of minutes. Once the oil and honey melt and start to make small bubbles, give it a little gentle shake to prevent the banana from sticking, and then it is time to put the pan in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the puff pastry gets golden brown. When the tart is done, take it out of the oven and leave it to rest for 10 minutes. In addition, there was an advice from Ramsay; before flipping it, put it on the stove for 30 seconds. As a result, the fruits and the dough won’t be sticking on the pan but will slide out nicely.

With this in mind, place the plate carefully on the pan and flip everything around. The banana tart Tatin should slide smoothly on the plate. One last thing; sprinkle with the remaining pink peppercorns and serve.

Enjoy!