Easy Pear Tarte Tatin

I love Tarte Tatin, and although it isn’t hard to make, this recipe is even easier, substituting  Maple Syrup for sugar and water.   I’ve always made it traditionally with apples, but this is a nice alternative.  The earthy flavour of the maple syrup marries perfectly with the pears. Serve a slice hot with good qualtiy vanilla ice cream or a dollop of Greek Yoghurt dusted with cinnamon.

Pear Tarte Tatin

• 60g unsalted butter
• 375ml maple syrup
• 3 kaiser pears, washed and sliced
• 1 rectangle roll of puff pastry

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Place butter in a non stick frying pan and melt over a medium heat.
3. Add the maple syrup and stir until combined.  Add the pears and cook for about 5 minutes. (avoid pears getting too soft). Turn off heat and set aside.
4. If fry pan is oven proof, you can leave the pears where they are and simply cover with the pastry. Otherwise, I used a rectangular  34cm x  10cm tart tin.  Cut pastry a couple of centimetres larger than tart tin.
5. Carefully lift pears into your choice of oven dish or tart tin, (including syrup).  Cover with pastry and tuck in sides all the way around.
6. Bake for circa 25 min or until pastry is puffy and golden. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes then invert onto desired serving plate.  (If you leave the tarte tatin too long in the tart tin, it will cool down too much, the ‘toffee’ will stick and it may be difficult to remove).  Be careful not to burn yourself!