Recipe of the week: pear tarte tatin with homemade cinnamon ice cream
This is a wonderful warmer that looks amazing but is actually very easy to make at home!
Emils Paberzis, junior sous chef at the Macdonald Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, said: “It has all the flavours of this time of year with pears, which are right in season, and the seasonal spice, cinnamon. There are also lots of textures with the caramel and pears, the crunch of pastry and the creaminess of the ice cream.”
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the poaching liquid
500ml red wine
A pinch of cinnamon to taste
5 cloves
2 star anise
The peel of half an orange
100g soft brown sugar
For the tarte
Ready-made puff pastry
2 pears
100g caster sugar
For the ice cream
250ml milk
250ml cream
5 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
cinnamon (to taste)
40ml glucose
Method
1. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil. Add the peeled pears and simmer for 8-12 minutes. Let the liquid drain off the pears through a sieve and allow the pears to cool. Slice the pears and set aside.
2. To make the ice cream, bring the milk, cream and glucose to a boil. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, and pour the boiled cream mix over the yolk mix while whisking. Pass the mixture through a sieve and churn. If you don’t have an ice cream machine you can place the mixture in a bowl in the freezer and whisk every 20 minutes or put the mixture in a food bag in the freezer and squish every 20 minutes.
3. For the tarte, cut out two disks of ready-made puff pastry. In two small frying pans – with metal handles not plastic – make the caramel by heating the sugar on a low heat for 3-5 minutes until the caramel is light brown, add the pear slices and top with the pastry disk. Cook in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
4. To serve, place a large plate over the top of the frying pan and carefully flip over so the pastry is at the bottom of the tarte and the pears and caramel form the top layer.
5. Serve with a big dollop of cinnamon ice cream on top so it melts into the tarte tatin.
See more recipes from Emil.
