Pineapple Tarte Tatin

Tarte tatin is an upside down tart made in a skillet, with a crust made of puff pastry. They’re typically made with apples, but the tarts can actually be made with a wide variety of fruits. This is a Pineapple Tarte Tatin, made with cubes of fresh pineapple. The tart has a great combination of buttery pastry dough, sweet caramel and even sweeter pineapple.

The tarts are extremely easy to make because of the way they use a skillet. A caramel sauce is cooked in the skillet on the stovetop and fruit is added into it. A sheet of puff pastry is then draped over the cooked fruit and the edges of the pastry are tucked in around the filling mixture like a blanket. The whole skillet is then popped into the oven to allow the pastry to crisp up and then it is inverted onto a serving plate, revealing a beautifully caramelized fruit tart. It is imperative that you use an oven safe skillet to make this tart, so I recommend using an all-metal pan (such as stainless steel or cast iron) to cook and make sure you have a heavy duty oven mitt available when it is time to take the tart out of the oven.

I used fresh pineapple for this tart (and you should be able to get enough fruit from a medium-sized pineapple), but you should be able to used canned pineapple with no problems if you don’t have fresh fruit. The tart goes exceptionally well with extra caramel sauce and with coconut ice cream, although it is very nice to eat on its own. This type of tart is best when it is fresh out of the oven and the pastry is nice and crispy, so make it at the last minute whenever possible.

Pineapple Tarte Tatin
1 10-12 inch sheet puff pastry (homemade or store bought and defrosted)
16-oz fresh pineapple, cubed
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Place butter in a 10-inch oven-safe skillet over medium heat and let it melt. Add in sugar, fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Pour the lemon juice around the outside of the pan to moisten the sugar. Bring mixture to a boil and cook until it turns a deep golden color, 3-5 minutes.
Add in pineapple chunks and stir with a spatula to coat. Cook 2-3 minutes to soften pineapple. Remove from heat.
Roll out pastry sheet on a very lightly floured surface until it is large enough to cover the fruit when laid over the pan. If there is excess pastry, that is fine (i.e. it can and should be slightly larger than the pan).
Drape pastry over the pineapple and tuck any excess pastry in around the edges of the fruit.
Transfer skillet to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until pastry is crispy and a very deep golden brown. Allow to rest for about 2 minutes on the stove top.
Working very carefully, place a large serving plate on top of the skillet and invert tart onto the serving plate.
Serve immediately, with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 6-8