Caramelized Pear Ginger Tart (Tart Tatin)

Caramelized Pear Ginger Tart (Tart Tatin)

Note about the skillet: I use a 10 inch stainless steel all-clad or tramontina skillet. Non-stick pans also work. Cast iron might be a bit heavy to lift and flip. If you haven't done much weight lifting in the gym lately, this might not be the best pan for this tart.

In advance tip: You can cook the pears and roll out the dough earlier in the day, but start baking the tart no earlier than 1 hour before serving. The pears tend to wrinkle as the tart cools off and don't taste quite as good as when it's just baked. The dough should be refrigerated after rolling out, but the pears should not be refrigerated after cooking (this can turn the caramel runny).

Burnt pears tip: If the pears burnt a little, don't panic. Take a paring knife and slice a sliver off the top after baking and inverting the tart. I prefer the pears and caramel to be more brown rather than less.

4 large Bosc pears (buy 5 just in case)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tbsp minced ginger (optional)
1 disk of Pâte Brisée (pie and tart dough)

Make the dough at least 1 day before baking
Dough by hand    • Pie Dough by Hand with Vodka  
Dough with a food processor    • Pie Dough with a Food Processor and V...  
Rolling out pie dough    • Rolling Pie Dough, Blind Baking, and ...  

Peel, halve, and core pears.

In a 10-inch heavy skillet heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides. Stir in sugar (sugar will not be dissolved). Arrange pears, cut sides up, in the skillet, with the skinny end of pears pointing into the middle of the pan. If you have a half of a pear left over, cut a circle out of it and place it in the middle of the skillet domed side down. The pears will make a sort of flower in the skillet. Cook without stirring until sugar mixture forms a caramel just a shade darker than the color of cinnamon. (This can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 25, depending on the skillet and the stove.) Cool pears completely in the skillet. Sprinkle the pears with cinnamon and ginger.

Preheat the oven to 425°F and set a rack in the upper third of the oven.

On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out the dough to the thickness of 3mm. Trim it to make a circle 12 inches in diameter (save the trim for some other project). Arrange the dough over the caramelized pears. Tuck the edges into the skillet around pears. Bake in the upper third of the oven until the pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes, but not longer.

Have ready a rimmed serving plate slightly larger than the skillet. Invert the plate over the skillet and, wearing oven mitts and keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together, invert the tart onto the plate. Do this over the sink in case some juices spill. This is a bit scary, but it works! The trick is to do it in one very fast motion.

Let cool until warm, 15-20 minutes. Serve tart warm with whipped cream or crème fraiche.