Pear tarte Tatin with liquorice ice cream and lemon brittle

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Massimo Spigaroli's pear tarte Tatin recipe is a more elegant spin on the traditional French dessert, with individual rounds of almond sablé biscuit topped with discs of sweet butter-roasted pear. Crisp lemon brittle provides a golden crunch of caramel to the top of the tart, while liquorice ice cream adds sophisticated creamy richness to the overall dish.

First published in 2016

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Caramelised pears

  • 8 Williams pears
  • 30g of butter
  • 135g of brown sugar

Liquorice ice cream

  • 520g of whole milk
  • 175g of cream
  • 40g of milk powder, skimmed
  • 30g of egg yolks
  • 160g of caster sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • 5g of carob seed flour
  • 115g of liquorice paste, ideally Calabrian

Almond sablé

  • 70g of almond paste
  • 50g of butter
  • 75g of sugar
  • 25g of egg yolks
  • 110g of 00 flour
  • 75g of almond flour
  • 25g of almonds, toasted and chopped
  • 1 pinch of salt

Lemon brittle

To serve

Equipment

  • Thermometer
  • Blender
  • Ice cream maker

Method

1
The day before serving, prepare the liquorice ice cream. Combine the milk, cream and milk powder in a small pan and heat gently over a medium heat
  • 520g of whole milk
  • 175g of cream
  • 40g of milk powder, skimmed
2
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, sugar and carob seed flour until well-combined. Pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl, whisk to combine, then transfer to a clean pan and heat gently until the mixture reaches 82°C
  • 30g of egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • 160g of caster sugar
  • 5g of carob seed flour
3
Place the pan over a bowl of iced water and quickly cool the mixture until it reaches 4°C. Add the liquorice paste to the pan, then pour into a blender and blitz to combine
  • 115g of liquorice paste, ideally Calabrian
4
Pour the ice cream mixture into a tub and leave in the fridge to rest overnight, stirring last thing at night and first thing in the morning
5
The next day, stir the mixture thoroughly, then pour into an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer instructions. Transfer to the freezer and chill until ready to serve
6
Next prepare the mixture for the lemon brittle. Combine the butter, sugar, flour and lemon zest and juice in a large bowl and mix together until smooth. Place the bowl in the fridge and leave to rest for 3 hours
7
Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7
8
While the brittle mixture is resting, prepare the pears for the tarte Tatin and purée. Peel the pears and cut them in half, using a spoon to scoop out the core
  • 8 Williams pears
9
Melt the butter over a medium heat, then add the sugar and allow to dissolve. Pour the sweet butter into a tray with 5cm high edge and arrange the pears over the top, overlapping the pear pieces if necessary. Cover the tray with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes
  • 30g of butter
  • 135g of brown sugar
10
Meanwhile, make the sablé biscuit. Beat together the butter, sugar and almond paste until smooth, then mix through the egg yolks. Combine the flours in a separate bowl and gradually add to the butter mixture, stirring well until fully incorporated
11
Fold through the almonds and salt, then leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 25g of almonds, toasted and chopped
12
Once the pears are golden and cooked through, remove two pear halves from the tray and set aside for the purée. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/gas mark 3, then discard the foil and return the tray to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the moisture has evaporated
13
Place the reserved pear halves in a food processor and blitz to form a smooth purée, adding a little water to loosen if required. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside until ready to serve
14
Remove the pears from the oven and leave to cool a little, increasing the oven temperature to 170°C/gas mark 4. Once cool enough to handle, finely slice into semicircles approximately 0.5cm thick and set aside
15
Remove the rested sablé dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface. Roll out to a thickness of 1cm and cut out 6cm rounds using a pastry cutter. Lightly grease a baking tray and evenly space the rounds out across it, then transfer to the oven and bake for 18 minutes, until golden
16
Reduce the oven temperature to 165°C/gas mark 3
17
Remove the rested brittle mixture from the fridge and spread across a baking tray lined with a silicone baking mat. Bake for 8 minutes, until golden
18
Remove the lemon brittle from the oven and, while still hot, cut out semi-circles roughly the same size and shape as the pear slices. Set the brittle aside and leave to harden as it cools
19
To serve, place a sablé round in the centre of each plate and layer up slices of baked pear, finishing the stack with a piece of lemon brittle and a scoop of liquorice ice cream. Spoon a sweep of the pear purée across the edge of the plate and sprinkle over mint leaves and edible flowers to garnish

Working on his grandfather's farm, Massimo Spigaroli manages to run a Michelin-starred restaurant at the same time as his charcuterie business, which produces the best Culatello in the world.

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