Banana Tarte Tatin

By markemilw

At first glance, you might not recognize the familiar fruit dressed up in this tropical twist on a classic French upside-down tart, traditionally made with apples. The bananas are caramelized with brown sugar, cinnamon, and dark rum; a round of puff pastry covers the mixture for baking. Turned out, sliced, and topped with tangy creme fraiche, you will want to take a second look -- and taste. To invert the tart, cover the skillet with a serving plate and turn over in one quick motion; slowly lift the skillet. If bananas have shifted, use a wooden spoon or spatula to move them into place.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, for work surface
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (such as Dufour), thawed
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 5 large ripe bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 cup creme fraiche, for serving

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from marthastewart.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a 13 1/2-inch square. Using a large skillet as a guide, cut out a 12-inch round. Transfer pastry round to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Make three 1/2-inch slits in center of round; set pastry aside at room temperature.

Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cook, swirling skillet occasionally, until mixture turns medium amber, about 3 minutes.

Arrange bananas in skillet, overlapping slightly. Cook, without stirring, 3 minutes. Drizzle vanilla and rum over bananas, and cook until most of the rum has evaporated and liquid has thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place pastry round on top of bananas, and transfer to oven. Bake until pastry is golden brown and puffed, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and carefully invert the tart onto a serving plate. Whisk creme fraiche until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Serve dessert warm or at room temperature with the creme fraiche.