Scarlett WTatin of Pears
June 30th 2006 04:11
Tatin of Pears
About Tatin of Pears
The story of the Tatin sisters and their famous upside-down apple tarts is well known. The same idea works equally well with pears. Gordon Ramsay prefers to cook the pears first in a Caramel Syrup before baking them with a Buttery Caramel Sauce and light, homemade Puff Pastry. Choose a firm fruit that holds its shape well, such as Packhams.
INGREDIENTS
Makes one 21-cm / 9-in tart
250 gm home made Puff pastry
10 firm pears
325 gm / 1¾ cups caster sugar
50 gm /½ stick unsalted butter, diced
For the Pastry (makes 250 gm)
Making of the Dough:
112.5 gm Plain flour
good pinch of salt
12.5 gm butter, cut into chunks
¼ teaspoon white wine vinegar
about 75 ml ice-cold water
Making of the pastry shortening:
12.5gm Plain flour
112.5gm butter, cut into chunks
1. To prepare the puff pastry, first to make the dough, on a work surface, weigh out 112.5 gm of flour and mix in the salt. Make a bay in the centre of flour. Rub in 12.5 gm of the butter until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. This can be done in a food mixer, a food processor or by hand.
2. Add the vinegar, then trickle in the ice-cold water, mixing until the ingredients come together in a smooth dough. You may not need all the water, or you may need a little extra. It is hard to be specific. Again this can be done in a machine or by hand. Knead gently then wrap in cling film.
3. For the pastry shortening, blend the remaining 12.5 gm of the flour with the rest butter. This is best done by machine, processing until the mixture is smooth and just comes together. Spoon the butter mixture out onto a large sheet of cling film and shape into a rectangle. Wrap up completely in the cling film and chill both the dough and butter packages in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to a rectangle almost twice the size of the pastry shortening. Try to keep the edges as straight as possible and the corners well angled. If necessary, tease the dough into shape.
5. Place the pastry shortening down the long side of the dough, fold over the dough to enclose the shortening completely then pinch the edges to seal.
6. Dust off any surplus flour with a dry pastry-brush, then carefully roll out the dough in one direction only until it is about three times the length, making sure none of the butter breaks through.
7. Fold the dough neatly into three, bringing the top third down and placing the bottom third over it. Give the dough a quarter-turn and roll out again. Dust the board and rolling pin lightly with flour and roll out again to a long rectangle the same size as before, keeping the edges and corners neat.
8. Fold into thirds before, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Unwrap, then, with the smooth, folded edge to the side, roll out again into a long rectangle as before.
9. Fold again in three, give the dough a quarter-turn, ensuring the folded edge is still on the same side as before, and repeat the rolling and folding. Give another quarter-turn and fold into thirds, then fold again immediately so that you have a double thickness of pastry. Wrap in cling film and chill again for 20 minutes.
10. Roll out the pastry twice more, rolling, folding and turning as before. The butter will have been rolled into wafer-thin layers between the dough; this is what causes it to rise in light, crisp layers. Set aside.
11. To make the pears, peel, quarter and core the pears, then cover and set aside.
12. Put three-quarters of the sugar into a deep saucepan with about 4 tablespoons of water. Heat very slowly, stirring occasionally, until the sugar starts to dissolve. With a pot of water and a brush, wash down any sugar crystals that cling to the side of the pan; this will give you a clearer caramel.
13. When every grain of sugar has dissolved, stop stirring, raise the heat and boil the sugar until it is a rich, dark caramel. Immediately add the pear quarters, standing well back as the caramel will spit.
14. Stir the pears well to coat them. Cover with a lid, and adjust the heat to maintain a simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the pears are just softened but retain their shape and texture; during this time turn the pears once or twice. Remove from the heat. Leave the pears to cool in the caramel syrup, then chill. Drain the pears and set aside. Discard the caramel syrup.
15. To make the Buttery Caramel Sauce, put the remaining sugar into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water. Dissolve the sugar and boil it to caramel stage as before. As soon as the caramel starts to smoke, whisk in the diced butter. When you have a smooth sauce, pour it into a 21-cm / 9-in flan tin or dish which has a fixed base.
16. Roll out the pastry to a 23-cm / 10-in diameter circle. Prick it well and transfer it to the refrigerator to rest for about 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
17. Arrange the drained pears in the caramel sauce. Fit the pastry on top, tucking the edges down well to hold the pears in place. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and crisp. Drain the excess juices off once during baking, leaving enough juice to keep the pears moist.
18. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then invert onto a plate and serve at room temperature.
Tips:
1. Take the butter out of the refrigerator about an hour before you use it to make the pastry.
2. When rolling out the dough, always keep the edges as straight as you can and the corners neat and true, tugging them gently into place if you can’t quite master the rolling.
3. It is important that the layers of butter are rolled evenly into the dough and careful neat rolling is the best method for ensuring this. So always roll and fold in the same direction (generally bottom to top), and give the dough just a quarter-turn each time, again in the same direction, normally anti-clockwise.
4. Baking the puff pastry over high temperature helps make it even more flaky and airy.
5. The pastry-type dessert should be consumed on the day of making as it will soften easily in room temperature and lose its crispy texture in time.
**From “Gordon Ramsay’s Passion for Flavour” and “Exquisite Dessert Buffet”**
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Comment by Anonymous
Sa ^_^
Comment by Anonymous