There are two tricky moments in the preparation of any sort of upside-down tart and both involve the caramel. First the making of the sugar and butter sauce without burning or crystallizing it, and second, restraining said hot sauce from pouring out over your fingers as you upend the tart on to its serving plate. The caramel is something I have been playing with, on and off, for years. I have finally decided not to make it in the traditional manner. It is far easier, I find, to make one from sugar and a little sweet wine (in this case Marsala), then drop cubes of butter into it and let everything come together in the oven. The fruit helpfully soaks up most of the caramel, leaving just the right amount of buttery stickiness. Use a tarte Tatin mould or a metal-handled frying pan, or, as I do, a shallow-sided tart tin.
Ingredients
For the pastry:
To serve:
Special Equipment
Step 1
Set the oven at 400°F/200°C/Gas 6. Put the figs and raisins into a mixing bowl, pour over the Marsala and leave to stand for forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Make the pastry:
Step 2
Cut the cold butter into small cubes and rub into the flour, either with your fingertips or using a food processor. Work until you have what looks like coarse, fresh breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
Step 3
Add the egg yolks to the butter and flour. Mix together until you have a soft dough, then turn out on to a floured board and knead briefly, for just a minute. Shape the dough into a smooth, fat cylinder. Wrap it in greaseproof paper or clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for thirty minutes.
Make the caramel:
Step 4
将英国在现代模具或煎锅ate heat. (If you will be baking the tart in a cake tin, use a frying pan to make the caramel, otherwise you will damage your tin.) Add the Marsala from the dried fruit, leaving the fruit behind in the bowl, then add the sugar. Bring to the boil and leave to form a thin caramel. If you are using a Tatin mould, remove from the heat. If you are using a cake tin, pour the caramel from the frying pan into the tin.
Assemble the tart:
Step 5
Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter it over the caramel. Place the plumped-up figs on the base of the tin in a single layer (neatly or not, as you wish), then scatter over the raisins, pushing them into any gaps.
Step 6
Roll out the pastry a little larger than the Tatin mould or cake tin. With the help of the rolling pin—it is very fragile—lift the pastry into the mould or tin, pressing it gently into place over the figs. Tuck in any overhanging pastry.
Step 7
Bake in the preheated oven for about thirty minutes, until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to settle for ten to fifteen minutes. Place a large serving plate on top of the tart, then, using oven gloves, hold the tin and plate firmly and carefully turn them over, leaving the tart to slide out on to the plate. Serve warm with cream, ice cream or crème fraîche.
Leave a Review
Reviews (1)
Back to TopI was disappointed with this tart. I made it exactly as directed in a cake pan. The figs were tough, making the tart difficult to cut and making it hard to get a bite of each part of the tart at one time. I could put up with that if the flavor was amazing but it wasn't. Blah... all that work and I would have enjoyed the figs as they were out of the bag more.
mellabella605
Manhattan Beach, CA
3/2/2020
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