A gooey, delicious pear and ginger upside-down tart that serves just two people
Servings 2people
Author Domestic Gothess
Ingredients
Pastry
75g (scant ⅔ cup) plain flour
15g (2 Tablespoons_ icing (powdered) sugar
pinchsalt
40g (3 Tablespoons)vegan block butter, cold and cubed
1-2Tablespoonsice cold water
Filling
2medium pearsripe but firm
65g (⅓ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
1Tablespoonwater
15g (1 Tablespoon)vegan butter
1ball stem gingerfinely chopped
1Tablespoonstem ginger syrup
⅛teaspoonground ginger
⅛teaspoonground cinnamon
pinchsalt
Instructions
To make the pastry, mix together the flour, icing sugar and salt. Add the butter and rub in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add enough ice water to bring it together into a soft dough. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
Peel and core the pears and cut each into 8 slices, set aside.
Place a 15cm/6in cast iron skillet or oven proof frying pan over the heat, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the base and add the tablespoon of water. Heat, swirling the pan regularly, until the sugar has melted and turned caramel. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the butter then the stem ginger, ginger syrup, ground ginger and cinnamon and the salt.
Add the pear slices and stir to coat in the caramel. Return the pan to a low heat and cook, stirring regularly, for 10-15 minutes until the pears have shrunk and softened slightly but still retain their shape.
Set aside until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 190°C/170℃ fan/375°F/gas mark 5.
Once the pears have cooled, arrange them in a single layer in the skillet. Roll out the pastry to about 5mm thick (you want it a bit thicker than you would usually roll it) and cut out a circle a couple of centimetres larger than the diameter of your skillet.
Place the circle of pastry over the pears and tuck the edges down in between the fruit and the sides of the skillet.
Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 5 minutes - until the caramel stops bubbling.
Place a plate (one with a bit of a rim - there will be caramel spill-over) over the top of the skillet and carefully invert the tart onto the plate, rearrange the pears if need be.
Serve warm, with a dollop of ice cream.
Notes
1. You will need an approx 15cm/6in cast iron skillet or oven proof frying pan.