Last week in our bistro chef Lou decided to make mini pineapple tart tatins for dessert. I really enjoyed the combination of the sweetness of the caramel with the tartness of the fresh pineapple. This definitely wouldn’t work using canned pineapple.
- Ingredients (for 8 mini tarts):
- 1 fresh pineapple – peeled, eyes removed, cut into quarters, core removed
- Sprinkle the pineapple quarters with a little brown sugar and bake in the oven at 180°C for about 10-15 minutes. The pineapple needs to be firm and not cooked through.
- Slice each quarter in pieces about 1cm thick.
- Caramel:
- ¾ cup castor sugar
- 35g unsalted butter
- 1 vanilla pod (optional)
Method
Place the sugar and vanilla pod in a pot and heat on the stove on a low heat. Shake the sugar around and slowly start to raise the temperature. Once the sugar starts to melt, add the butter. Keep on a lowish heat while the butter melts. The mixture needs to look a golden caramel colour. Remove the vanilla pod.
Pour the caramel into 8 small pie dishes (foil pie dishes are fine). Put 2 overlapping layers of the pineapple slices into each dish.
Make your own short pastry or use bought sheets. Cut rounds of pastry a little bigger than the dishes. Place a round of pastry on top of each dish of pineapple and tuck in the overhang. Bake at 180°C for about 10-15 minutes.
These can be made in advance and left in the dishes. Just before serving put them in a warm oven for 3-4 minutes to loosen the caramel and warm the pineapple.
Tip each onto a serving plate.