I know you’re probably a little confused by the chilli! And yes, of course you can leave it out but for me, pineapple and chilli work wonderfully together and so it was a no brainer for me to add some in!
This dessert is clearly quite fruity – I like it more than the apricot tarte tatin which I made a few months back (see previous blog post), as it is both lighter and fresher. The sweetness does depend on the pineapple you buy so be aware of this. If your one isn’t so sweet, you can add more sugar to taste.
Regarding what type of sugar to use to caramelise best, well the jury is out on this one. I tend to use caster sugar, but I find that if you take your eyes off the pan, then the dissolved sugar could go from caramelised to burnt very quickly! So if this could be you, it might be wise to use granulated sugar instead – I feel there less margin for error this way!
I’ve used ready rolled puff pastry for ease, but of course if you’re feeling like you want to make some yourself, by all means go ahead! Also do swap the pineapple for other fruit if that take your fancy but be mindful of the sugar and water content of what you end up using.
I hope you like it – as always, please let me know what you think if you do have a go!
Pineapple and Chilli Tarte Tatin
Equipment
- One 20cm diameter non stick, oven proof frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 pack ready rolled puff pastry take out of fridge 10 mins prior to beginning so that you can work with it easily
- 1 pineapple peeled, cored and finely sliced (0.5 cms slices)
- 100 g caster sugar granulated sugar works fine too
- 2-3 star anise
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 red chilli finely chopped
- 2-3 tbsp cointreau you can use malibu too
- 75 g butter chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190°C (fan oven 170°C)
- Roll out the pastry and cut a circle to fit the diameter of your frying pan – make it 1-2 cms bigger all round. Place circle in fridge to chill
- Add the sugar, star anise and cinnamon stick to the frying pan and heat gently until the sugar starts to caramelise.
- When it is golden brown, turn off the heat and remove the star anise and cinnamon
- Place the pineapple rings around the bottom of the frying pan
- Once this is done, sprinkle the chilli on top of the pineapple. (go easy if kids are also eating this dessert!)
- Now pour over the cointreau and finally sprinkle the butter in too
- Take the pastry out of fridge and prick it with a fork all over (this will stop it puffing up too much when in the oven)
- Place the pastry circle on top of the pineapple and caramel, and tuck in all the sides – you can use a couple of spoons to help you do this more precisely
- Now place the frying pan into the oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Once golden brown, you can remove the pan from the oven – clearly the handle will be hot so use oven gloves! (I have made this mistake enough times, hence why I've written it into the recipe!)
- Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes. Then placing a plate on top of the pastry, carefully invert the tarte so that it is now on the plate – again using oven gloves will help.
- Serve with a dollop of ice cream!
