pineapple tart tatin

I admit that I have a sweet tooth and that desserts are my weakness. I like them all! But I still have my favourites and one of the ones I like the most is fruit tarts, especially the Tatin tart, starting with the traditional apple tart and ending with this one I bring you today, the delicious pineapple Tatin tart.

I'm sure you've all heard of them, but just in case some of you don't know these tarts, I'll tell you that they are tarts with caramelized fruit and a dough, which can be shortcrust pastry or puff pastry, and that they have the peculiarity that they are baked upside down, that is, the caramelized fruit goes on the bottom of the mold and we spread the dough on top of it, which remains on top during baking, to turn it over when serving .

One of my tricks to make the cake a real delight is to prepare it with a good homemade shortcrust pastry . In my opinion, there is no comparison between a homemade shortcrust pastry and an industrial one, no matter how good the latter is. Also, I have no excuse, because if I prepare it in my Kitchen Aid , it is really very quick and easy to make. I promise you that it takes me longer to decide to make it than to prepare it!

I also have this beautiful Tatin tart mould by Emile Henry , which is not only pretty, but also very practical, as it consists of two parts: the mould itself, which we can put on the stove to prepare the filling and directly in the oven to bake the cake, and a plate to present the cake so it looks beautiful on our table.

Haven't I convinced you yet? Well, I can only insist again that it's not only easy to make , it's also delicious! I assure you that the caramelized pineapple alone is incredibly good, but if we also combine it with the shortcrust pastry and that delicious taste of good butter... I'm speechless to describe it!! (And I promise you that leaving me speechless is not easy at all...)

Ingredients

For the dough*:

• 225 g flour
• 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 150 g cold butter
• 1 large egg
• Zest of a lemon

For the filling:

• 10-12 slices of pineapple
• 100 g of sugar
• 50 g butter
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Juice of ½ lemon

*I will tell you in the ingredients and preparation method how to make the homemade shortcrust pastry, and that is how I find this tart to be the most delicious. But if you are short on time, you can use shortcrust pastry or refrigerated puff pastry to quickly make this recipe and you will only have to make the second part of the recipe.

Elaboration

Preparing the shortcrust pastry :

1. In a bowl, sift the flour and mix with the sugar and lemon zest (you can grate the lemon using a grater like the one from Microplane ).
2. Next, add the butter, cold and cut into pieces, and mix by rubbing with your fingers, without kneading, until you get a sandy texture.
3. Add the egg and knead the dough as little as possible, just until the crumbs come together and form a ball. If the dough is too dry, you can add a tablespoon of water, but only if necessary.
4. If using the Kitchen Aid , attach the paddle attachment and at speed 2 mix the flour, butter, sugar and lemon zest, just long enough to obtain a sandy texture. Next, add the egg and knead the dough as little as possible, just until the crumbs come together and form a ball, adding a tablespoon of water if necessary.
5. We take the dough out of the bowl and, using a rolling pin , we stretch the dough until we obtain a sheet approximately 3 cm thick, and with a diameter slightly larger than that of the mould.
6. We wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes, although the ideal would be about 2 hours.

We prepare the caramelized pineapple:

1. If we are going to use natural pineapple, we start by peeling the pineapple, cutting it into slices and removing the central core, which is harder (if we use the WMF pineapple cutter , we can do these three steps in one go, it is very convenient!! )
2. Next, we drain the pineapple, first in a colander , and then with a little kitchen paper, so that it does not release too much water, which could soften the dough excessively.
3. We put our Emile Henry tarte tatin mould on a low heat with the sugar and lemon juice and let it dissolve until it forms a caramel, without ever stirring it with a spoon, as doing so will cause the caramel to crystallise.
4. Once a light caramel has formed, add the tablespoon of honey and the butter and leave on the heat for just a couple of minutes so that everything is integrated (now we can use a spatula or a wooden spoon to mix), being very careful that the caramel does not burn, as it would become bitter.
5. Next, add the pineapple slices, covering the base of the mould with them (don't worry if some slices are slightly overlapping each other, as they shrink slightly when baked, ensuring that there are no gaps in the cake).
6. We remove the mold from the heat.
7. Preheat the oven to 180º.
8. Next, if we use natural pineapple, we put the mold in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, so that the pineapple cooks and loses its hardness.
9. If, on the other hand, we use canned pineapple, it will not be necessary to cook it beforehand as it is more tender, and baking the cake afterwards is more than enough to make it tender.
10. Once the dough has rested (and the pineapple has baked if we have done so) we take it out of the refrigerator and remove the cling film.
11. We spread the dough over the pineapple that is already in the mold, making sure that it is well covered and tucking the dough well between the pineapple slices and the mold.
12. We prick the dough with a fork and make a cross cut in the center to let the steam out and prevent the dough from softening.
13. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the dough is golden and the caramel appears around the edges of the mold.
14. We remove the cake from the oven and run the tip of a knife around the dough to loosen any areas of dough that may have stuck to the mould.
15. Let it cool for 10 minutes, so that the caramel takes on consistency and ensures that it comes out of the mould better. We must not let it cool for longer, otherwise the caramel will harden too much and the cake will stick to the mould.
16. After 10 minutes, unmold the cake by turning the mold over onto the plate, as if you were turning a potato omelette.
17. We serve the cake, warm or cold, accompanied, if we wish, with a few mint leaves and whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.

Emile Henry tarte tatin mould , Opinel fruit and vegetable knife and Bérard wooden honey spoon

Grades

• You will see that I recommend stretching the shortcrust pastry before resting it in the fridge, contrary to what is usually recommended, but for me it is much more convenient as it requires less effort. In any case, you can do it whenever you prefer.
• To make this cake you can use either fresh or canned pineapple, but if it is canned, make sure it is packed in its own juice, not in syrup, as this would make the cake too sweet.
• I am giving you an approximate amount of pineapple slices, since depending on their size you will need more or less to cover the bottom of the mold.

You see, this type of cake is not complicated at all, and they are very effective. When you prepare them, you will delight everyone, and you will also look like a real cook.

And so between us, if you are in a hurry and decide to prepare this cake with a store-bought refrigerated dough, I won't tell anyone, it will be a secret between us.