A tarte tatin, or upside down cake is a French classic, supposedly invented by the Tatin sisters when an apple tart went wrong (it burned on the to) so it was flipped over and presented with the fruit uppermost. This is a modern West African twist on the original where butternut squash is used in place of apples. However, this is made as a sweet dessert rather than savoury and served with home-made citrus custard. This version uses commercial puff pastry for convenience.
Prep time 90 minutes/Cook time 20 minutes/Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
For the Tarte Tatin:
600g (1 1/3 lbs) butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch sea salt
2 tbsp runny honey
40g (1½oz) golden caster sugar
40g (1½oz) salted butter
½ tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
plain flour, for dusting
250g (9oz) ready-rolled puff pastry
For the Custard:
500ml (2 cups) milk
60ml (1/4 cup) single cream
1 vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, yolks only
30g (1oz) caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
100ml (2/5 cup) orange juice
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 200C (180C Fan/400F/Gas mark 6).
Peel the squash and cut in half lengthways. Remove the seeds and cut the squash into 5mm (¼in) thick slices. Toss the squash with the olive oil and arrange in a single layer on a baking tray. Season with a pinch of salt, transfer to you oven and roast for 15 minutes until golden-brown, but still a little firm to the touch. Remove and set aside.
Combine the honey, sugar and 1 tbsp of cold water in a heavy-based 20cm (8in) ovenproof frying pan and set over medium heat. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until you have a golden caramel (about 5 minutes). Stir in the butter, nutmeg and cinnamon, wait until the butter has melted, then take the heat. (NOTE: melted sugar gets very hot. Take care not to burn yourself.)
Arrange the butternut squash slices in an overlapping fan pattern over the base of the pan: take great care or use tongs as the caramel will be extremely hot. Cook for a further 3–5 minutes, or until the syrup is deeply caramelised then take off the heat.
Arrange the puff pastry on a work surface dusted with flour then cut out a disk from it that’s 2cm (1 in) than the pan that you’re using. Carefully position the pastry over the butternut squash and tuck the overlaps down around the side, using the tip of a knife to ease it into place. Prick a few small holes in the upper surface of the pastry to allow steam to escape.
Transfer to your pre-heated oven and bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the pastry is golden-brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 2 minutes, but no longer, otherwise the caramel, as it cools, will stick to the pan, making it difficult to remove the tart. Place a large plate on top of the pan and, in one swift movement, invert the tarte tatin onto the plate, taking care as the caramel will still be very hot.
Whilst the tart tatin is baking, prepare the custard. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla pod in a pan and bring to a simmer gently over low heat. Remove the vanilla pod at this time (you should wash the vanilla pod then put in a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar).
Whisk together the egg yolk, sugar and cornflour in a heat-proof bowl. Whilst whisking constantly with a balloon whisk, pour the warm milk (simmering not boiling) into the bowl as a slow, steady, stream. Return the mixture to the pan (add the vanilla extract at this point, if using). Cook over a gentle heat, mixing with a wooden spatula until thickened to your liking. When thick, beat in the orange juice and lemon zest and continue cooking once more until thickened.
Pour the resultant custard into a bowl and serve immediately. However, if you need to wait and want to keep the custard warm stand the jug in a bowl of hot water and cover the top with clingfilm, making sure it touches the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
To serve, slice the tart tatin in wedges and serve accompanied by the custard.
