Maple Cinnamon Pear Tarte Tatin with Fudge Sauce

If you have a look at my pantry, you'll find that it's practically bursting with all sorts of food - junk food, canned food, packets of dried noodles, instant noodles, pasta of every shape and size, grains, lots of snacks and juice poppers for school recess... G reckons that we're well stocked in the event of any food rationing. Oh yes, not to mention the refrigerator which is also full of bottles and jars of sauces, amongst other things (like the many blocks of butter that I stock when they go on sale). G has been pushing me to start using these things that are "clogging up" our pantry, but I told him that if I did use them up, I would probably just go buy more, just in case I needed them again.

So, I had a half-bottle of maple syrup, some pears, leftover chocolate fudge sauce and some frozen puff pastry. Well, actually, I bought the puff pastry just last week as I had plans to make apple tarte tatin, but since I had quite a few pears lying around, I decided to make pear tarte tatin instead, which would go perfectly with the chocolate sauce.

Tarte tatin, which originated from France, is an upside down tart that is typically made with apples and caramel. It's a pretty easy dessert to make, and most importantly, there's only one pan to wash up! No bowls, no mixers, no mess of a flour all over the kitchen bench. Just a beautiful upside-down pear tart with sweet maple and cinnamon syrup, best enjoyed with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and lashings of hot chocolate fudge!

Pear Maple Cinnamon Tarte Tatin with Fudge Sauce

Ingredients

1 round puff pastry, about 5mm thick and 18cm diameter
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 cinnamon stick
1 large firm and ripe pear, peeled, cored and sliced into four length-wise

To serve (optional):
Vanilla ice-cream
Chocolate fudge sauce (or just chocolate sauce)
Icing sugar for dusting

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Place a 15cm non-stick oven-safe pan/skillet on the stove. Add the butter, maple syrup and cinnamon stick and heat until it starts to bubble. Place the sliced pears in the pan and simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat until the syrup is thickened. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly. Place the puff pastry over the pears and tuck in the edges. Lightly prick the pastry 10 times with the sharp tip of a knife. Place the pan in the oven and cook for about 35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Remove and let it cool for 20 minutes. Gently shake the pan to release the tart before inverting it onto a plate. Dust with icing sugar and serve with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate fudge sauce.