Banana Tatin

Photo: flickr user www.theedinburghblog.co.uk

Ingredients

Banana Tatin

250 grams ready-made puff pastry

75 grams butter, room temperature

75 grams caster sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

5 bananas

Preparation

Roll out the pastry, invert a large dinner plate over the top and cut around the edge to give you a large circle about 26 cm (10 inches) in diameter. Prick the pastry lightly all over, place back on the plate and transfer to fridge.

Spread the butter thickly over the base and halfway up the sides of a medium-sized frying pan with an oven-proof handle. Shake the sugar evenly over the butter and sprinkle with lemon juice. Peel and cut all but 2 of the bananas into 3 cm (1 inch) lengths and stack them upright over the base of the pan, packing them in closely. Cut the remaining bananas in half vertically to go around the edges.

Preheat the over to 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F. Put the pan over a medium heat and leave for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. The butter will melt first, then gradually form a caramel with the sugar.

Take the pan off the heat once the mixture begins to turn golden brown. Leave the pan for five minutes for the bubbling to subside, then carefully lower the pastry onto the pan, tucking the edges down the sides.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minute, then turn the heat down to 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Remove the pan from the oven and leave for 10 minutes, work round the edge of the tart with a knife, then carefully invert it onto a large plate. If you find a few pieces of banana have stuck to the base of the pan, simply pry them off with a round-bladed knife and stick them back on top of the tart, caramelized-side upwards.