day 9: banana tarte tatin

My husband and I have issues. We’re trying to work through them, but sometimes it just seems like there’s no hope.

Here’s the glitch: we both like green bananas. Yellow? No thanks. The tiniest fleck of brown? Compost. God forbid–brown? Get it our of our kitchen. Stat.

So when the days go by and we’ve forgotten to eat the bananas in the two day window that we will actually consume them, what in the heck are we going to do with them?

I have a solution. This may save our marriage. And our over-ripe bananas.

I know you have some in your kitchen too. So c’mon. Let’s roll.

Grab those ripe little buggers. Three or four of ‘em. Throw an orange in there while you’re at it (for zesting only).

These guys would have been thrown out two days ago in our household. Waaaay too much brown goin’ on there. But for this recipe, the riper the better. They taste more banana-ey that way.

Also grab some frozen, ready-to-bake puff pastry. Keep in mind that one sheet takes about 40 minutes to defrost, so plan accordingly.

What did people do before frozen, ready-to-bake puff pastry? Make their own or something? Twas a hard-knock life.

Finally, you’ll need a half stick of butter, one cup of sugar (baker’s sugar, if you have it–granulated if you don’t), and some tasty cinnamon. Non-tasty cinnamon need not apply.

First, cube up the butter. Place it in a pan that is stovetop and oven safe*. This guy is enameled cast-iron, but you could also use a dutch oven. Put the butter over low to medium-low heat to get it melting.

*If you don’t have a pan that would work, don’t fret. You’ll just have to be extra careful transferring the hot caramel into a baking dish.

Meanwhile, halve the ‘nanners…

…and zest half of the orange.

Once the butter is melted, add the sugar.

Stir until combined…

…and continue cooking until the sugar is dissolved and you’ve got yummy, golden caramel. This should take 5-10 minutes over medium-low heat, or maybe a bit longer if you’re using regular old granulated sugar. Be SUPER CAREFUL: this stuff BURNS. Wear oven mitts and an apron to protect yo-self.

Very carefully lay the bananas down in the caramel mixture and sprinkle with the orange zest and a few dashes of cinnamon.

Lay out one sheet of defrosted puff pastry on a floured surface. Roll it out into whatever shape your pan is–we’re going to lay it on top of the bananas. My pan was round, so it wasn’t so much rolling as it was tucking.

Very, very carefully lay the shaped puff pastry on top of the bananas. It should come up to the edge of the pan and cover the banana mixture fully. Prick it a few times with a knife or fork. Toss it in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

I have a good feeling about this one.

Now, CAREFULLY (and I do mean CAREFULLY–I channeled my over-cautious mother for this part) place a plate over the pan. We need to flip this sucker out face-up while it’s hot or else the caramel will meld to the pan and life as we know it will be over. Oven mitts, aprons, a welding mask–suit up, people. Flip it over quickly and cautiously.

Are we all okay? No burns, scalds or scratches?

Good.

Oh. My. Goodness. (Over) ripe bananas have never looked so good.

Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

Right about now is when you’ll have your family hovering in your kitchen. The aroma will be completely irresistible.

I decided to carve it up like a pizza pie for ease of serving.

A dollop of whipped cream, a dash of cinnamon, and…

…heaven. Pure, unadulterated heaven.

Let’s just say heaven didn’t last long.

The bananas became infused with the warm caramel, the crust was flaky, and the whole time eating it I couldn’t help but think, “this is comfort food.”