Strawberry and rhubarb tarte tatin

To enjoy in a different way the fruits that will soon flood the markets and fruit shops, Carmen, author of Yerbabuena en la Cocina , presents us with a delicious strawberry tarte tatin: it moves away from the typical tart that includes apple, and brings us closer to the colour and essence of romantic spring. I recommend you try it!

I'm sure you've all heard about the origin of the famous Tarte Tatin , which is another variation of the apple tart. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it is an inverted tart, that is, the fruit is on the bottom and is covered with a pastry on top, which can be shortcrust, puff pastry, etc.

The origin is attributed to the Tatin sisters, who ran the hotel of the same name in Lamotte-Beuvron. According to the most accepted tradition, one of them was careless and overcooked the apples, so as not to waste them, she covered them with a pastry, baked them and then turned them over, giving rise to this well-known and exquisite variation of French cuisine.

Both for its ingredients and its preparation, the Tarte Tatin is very easy to prepare, with only sugar, butter, puff pastry and your favorite fruits, it will give the outstanding note to that lunch, snack or even dinner.

This time, I have opted for strawberries. I really enjoy this time of year when the markets are filled with a deep red color, you can almost feel that spring is just around the corner.

The other ingredient I used was rhubarb: its acidic flavour combines perfectly with strawberries and, although it is not very well known in our country, it is becoming more common to find it in specialist fruit shops, although it is a bit expensive; I encourage you to try it, I am sure you will be surprised.

And as it could not be otherwise, since the Tatin is one of my favourite cakes, and of French tradition, for its preparation I have used this beautiful mould by Emilie Henry , both for the quality of its finishes and for its designs, each one more beautiful than the last. This brand of ceramic moulds is one of my favourites. In addition, with it you will have two in one, since in it you can prepare the caramel, then put it in the oven and as a finishing touch present this magnificent cake on the tray included… IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST SUCH GENIUS!

Pictured is the fruit basket from Kitchen Craft .

Ingredients: (30 cm mold)

• 500 g of strawberries
• 300 g rhubarb
• 200 g sugar
• 50 g butter
• 1 sheet of purchased puff pastry

Elaboration:

We wash the strawberries, dry them and cut them lengthwise. We wash the rhubarb and cut it into pieces of about 4 centimetres (it is not necessary to remove the strings, as they fall apart when cooked and are imperceptible).

Place the mould on the heat and add the sugar, reserving a couple of tablespoons, and the butter cut into small pieces. Let it cook at medium temperature until the mixture turns golden or toffee-coloured. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180º. Place the strawberries in the mould so that the smooth side of the strawberries is facing up and the curved side is in contact with the caramel. Alternate with the rhubarb in a decorative manner. Don't mind if they are a little mounded, as they will shrink a little when cooking and it is best not to have any gaps.

Bake at 170º for 20 minutes. When half the time has passed, sprinkle the reserved sugar and continue cooking.

After this time, we stretch the puff pastry a little with the rolling pin. We take the mould out of the oven and place the puff pastry in it, tucking it around taking care not to move the fruit. With the excess puff pastry we make a border around it.

Bake at 170º for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Turn off the oven and leave the tart in the oven for about 10 minutes with the door ajar so that the caramel and strawberry juices cool down a bit and concentrate.

Remove and turn the cake over, being careful not to burn yourself with the caramel. Serve as is or with creme fraiche or ice cream and serve immediately.