
Pears are in their best shape in autumn and when they develop their beautiful sweet flavour. There are a lot of things you can do with pears such as poach them in red wine, make a pear compote for your porridge or a crumble. I decided to go for a classic such as a Tarte Tatin, which is usually made with apples. It looks very unique and difficult, but is actually very easy to make. Tarte Tatin is known for its visible fruits on top, that have a beautiful caramelized colour. If you don't have any pears on hand, use appples and in the summer time you can use peaches, figs or plums.

For one pear tarte tatin you will need:
1-2 big or 2-3 small pears
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp of brown sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 eggs
50g caster sugar
90g almond flour or ground almonds
2 tbsp glutenfree baking powder (such as arrowwoot)
cinnamon
a good splash of almond extract or Amaretto
icing sugar for decoration
First prepare your round baking tin by lining it with backing paper and preheat your oven to 175°C.
Make your caramel by adding the butter into a small pan. Once melted add the sugar and salt and stir a little bit, so everything is evenly spread.Bring the sugar and butter mixture to a boil until the whole sugar is fully dissolved. Pour the caramel into the baking tin and spread it evenly. Take the pears, cut them in halves and remove the seeds and cut the pears lengthwise into thin (around 0,5cm thick) stripes. Layer them over the caramel evenly in a circle form into the whole baking tin.

Now prepare the sponge separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Mix the egg yolks in a machine until they get thick and have a paler colour. Next add the sugar in a few steps while mixing the yolks, then the ground almonds, baking powder, cinnamon and the almond extract. Don't worry, the mixture will be slightly thick now. Whisk the egg yolks to a stiff meringue and then add a third of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture to lighten up the dough. Last but not least fold in the rest of the meringue with a spatula, be careful not losing too much air at this step.
Pour the mixture over the pears in the baking tin and spread it evenly covering the pears. Put it into the oven for around 25 minutes until the mixture is golden brown and the middle is set. Take it out of the oven and immediately turn the cake over a plate so the pears are on the top now. Sprinkle some icing sugar and extra cinnamon on top and serve the Tarte Tatin while it is still warm.
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