BANANA & RUM TATINS

Banana & rum tatins image

Gordon Ramsay takes tarte tatins - the classic French upside-down fruit tart - to new heights

Provided by Gordon Ramsay

Time 40m

Yield Makes 8

Number Of Ingredients 8

Ingredients

150g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
150g butter , chopped into pieces
4 tbsp dark rum
700g rough puff pastry or re-rolled trimmings, or you can use ready-bought puff pastry
4 large, firm, just ripe bananas
1 egg yolk
a little sifted icing sugar and crème fraîche, to serve, optional

Steps:

Put the sugar and 2 tbsps water in a heavy-based frying pan and allow to stand for 10 mins so that the sugar becomes saturated.
Flatten the vanilla pod with the back of a large knife. Slit it open and scrape out the sticky seeds inside. Add these to the sugar pan. Heat the pan over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, swirling the pan occasionally to stop the sugar catching. Raise the heat and cook it to a dark golden brown.
Cool for 30 secs and stir in about a third of the butter, then mix in the rum and the remaining butter, stirring the mixture to a smooth caramel. Pour into a heatproof jug,but don't chill or allow the caramel to set.
On a lightly floured board roll out the pastry to a rectangle approximately 50 x 30 cm and the thickness of a £1 coin.
Slice each banana lengthways keeping the halves as even as possible. Place each half rounded side up on the pastry and cut round the fruit, leaving a good 1cm border all the way round.
Lift the bananas up, paint them with the egg yolk mixed together with 1 tsp water, then drape the pastry cut-outs over them, pressing the dough around the sides. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Divide caramel between 2 ovenproof frying pans or a shallow baking tin and swirl around the pan as you would a pancake. If the caramel is too thick, re-heat it slightly.
Heat oven to 200C/fan180C /gas 6. Put tatins in the frying pans or baking tin, leaving a little space between each one. Cook the tatins for about 12-15 mins until the pastry is light golden brown and crisp. Remove the pans or tin from the oven and stand for a minute or so. Slide a long palette knife under each banana and carefully lift it up, then flip over onto a waiting dessert plate so the banana is showing.
Brush over any caramelised pan juices and serve with a dusting of icing sugar and a dollop of crème fraîche, if using.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 650 calories, Fat 43 grams fat, SaturatedFat 26 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 61 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 20 grams sugar, Fiber 2 grams fiber, Protein 5 grams protein, Sodium 1.4 milligram of sodium