Rhubarb tarte tatin
Expand your repertoire with these recipes from new book Bella: My Life in Food
Ready in 1 hour+ standing Serves 8-10 V
60g butter, soft but not melted
12 thin stalks rhubarb
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
¾ cup sugar
1/ recipe sweet sour cream pastry (see
3
below) or 200-250g store-bought puff pastry
Whipped cream or vanilla icecream, to serve
Spread butter over the base of a 26-28cm diameter ovenproof frying pan. Trim base from rhubarb and peel stalks with a small, sharp knife, stripping off the fibrous outer layer in long strands and discarding.
Cut lengths of rhubarb so you have a row of tightly packed stalks covering the entire base of the pan. Stack any extra pieces on top here and there. Sprinkle with vanilla and orange zest, then sprinkle sugar evenly over the top to fully coat. Allow to stand for 30 minutes — the sugar will draw out excess juice from the rhubarb and stop it from falling apart when cooked.
Place pan over a medium-high heat and cook, shaking now and then, until the pan liquids are reduced and starting to caramelise around the edges (8-10 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool. (If not baking at once, it will hold at room temperature for up to 8 hours.) Preheat oven to 180C fan bake. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured board to a circle just a little bigger than the top of the pan. Arrange on top of fruit, tucking excess pastry inside the pan. Bake until syrup is caramelised around the edges and pastry is golden (45-50 minutes).
Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes. To turn out, place a plate on top of the pan then carefully flip the pan over to invert the tart on to the plate. Spoon any caramel from the pan over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla icecream.
ANNABEL SAYS: The first time I ever ate tarte tatin was in a little roadside trucker cafe on the outskirts of Paris. The tart was sitting on a raised cake stand on the counter looking very rustic — nothing like the fancy French pastries you usually see — but I just knew it would be good, and I was right.