Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Quick Puff Pastry
- Add the flour and salt into a medium sized bowl and stir around with your fingers to mix
- Add your cold cubed butter to the bowl and toss to cover in flour.
- Gently squish each cube with your fingers to flatten slightly. Don't over work too much, we want to keep the butter in fairly big chunks.
- Slowly start adding your cold water, about a TBSP at a time. Gently toss the dough with your fingers. Don't over mix. You don't want to 'activate' the gluten, this will result in an elastic dough that will shrink more during baking.
- Once all of the dough starts to stick together and there aren't any large dry patches, pull it out onto your floured work top and shape into a square. You should still see large chunks of butter, that's fine.
- Roll out the dough into a long rectangle. Brush off the excess flour and do your first letter-fold.
- Rotate your dough, so the open ends are at the top and bottom (closest to you). Roll out once more and repeat the letter fold.
- Rotate once more, so the ends are at the top and bottom. Now you're going to do your first book fold.
- Rotate once more, so the ends are at the top and bottom. Do your last book fold.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge, while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
Tarte Tatin
- Preheat the oven for 205°C (400°F)
- Cut the plums in half and discard the core, then generously butter your tart pan. Set both aside.
- In a small sauce pan, add the cream and sprigs of thyme. Bring to a simmer.
- In a large skillet, add the sugar and bring to medium high heat to caramelize. Don't mix. Simply spread out the sugar by shaking the pan slightly and allowing the un-melted sugar granuales to fall into the melted sugar.
- Let the sugar continue to melt and starts to color. You're looking for a medium amber color.
- Strain the cream into a bowl and discard the thyme.
- Once the caramel is a medium amber color, take it off the heat then pour the cream into the caramel, whisking non-stop.
- Once the cream is combined with the caramel, add the cubed salted butter and continue to whisk until completely until combined.
- Back on the heat and transfer your plum halves to the caramel, cut side down.
- Cook for about 10 minutes, occasionally rotating the plums around in the pan to ensure that they cook evenly.
- While the plums cook, roll out your puff pastry to a circle slightly larger than your tart pan and about 5mm thick (1/8 - 1/4inch) .
- With a pair of thongs, transfer the plums to the tart pan, creating one layer of fruit. Pour the caramel evenly over the fruit.
- Transfer the dough to the top of the plums and tuck in the edges in along the edges of the tart pan lip.
- Cut 1-2 vents in the pastry dough for the steam to vent during baking.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and flaky.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes then place a serving dish on top of the pan. In one swoop, flip the pan over and let sit for a minute or so until the caramel and fruit releases.
- Garnish with fresh sprigs of thyme then serve warm with homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!