Anyone who knows me will roll their eyes if I mention cookbooks. That is to say, I have a rather extensive collection, which I seldom cook from. You might ask what’s the point of buying a cookbook if you are not going to use the recipes? For me it’s a sensory experience where I spend time feeling the pages, looking at the photography and drawings and last but not least garnering ideas.

I am not one for following directions (my husband would happily attest to that) so the thought of sitting down and reading the directions thoroughly and then making the recipe is not terribly appealing. Perhaps this explains my lack of baking.   Apparently baking turns out better when you measure and follow directions – who knew?

Recently I purchased French Comfort Food by Hillary Davis. Aside from my grandmother, a very great deal of my food training came from a boyfriend’s mother when I lived near Baden Baden and the French border, so I have been heavily influenced by French and other European cooking. I have all the classic French cookbooks and many of the newer classics, which then begs the question “why buy yet another French food cookbook?” Well…., because the pictures were beautiful.

Much to my surprise many of the recipes had a different twist on traditional comfort foods. So the first meal that I prepared was “succulent roast chicken with orange and olives – page 122”. While I did not completely follow the recipe, it certainly put me on the right track and encouraged me out of my normal roast chicken comfort zone. Results were amazing and this chicken will happily become a household staple.

Encouraged by chicken success, and feeling guilty for not making dessert for my dad during his weeklong visit, I figured it would be good to attempt baking (actually following the directions).

Enter bananas, add caramel and voila an irresistible banana tarte tatin.

For this recipe you will need an ovenproof skillet.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 celsius)

Ingredients:

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed (or you could make your own)

½ cup (100 grams) sugar, plus 3 tbsp (35g)

5 tbsp. (75 grams) salted butter

1 ½ tsp real vanilla extract (I used a bit more almost 2 – this would also be good with a bit of chopped vanilla bean)

6 firm bananas, peeled and sliced in rounds (you may need fewer depending on the size of your pan)

Directions:

To make the pastry crust

Flour your counter and roll out the pastry dough making it just a wee bit larger than the size of your skillet. Don’t worry about it being the perfect shape, as you will tuck it under the bananas when your have them in the pan.  Once you have rolled out the dough, place it in the fridge sandwiched between 2 pieces of parchment paper.

To make the caramel

Place the skillet on the stovetop and add the sugar.  Turn your cooktop on to medium heat and avoid the temptation to stir.  Watch the sugar until it begins to gently bubble and then just shake your pan a bit to help the process of liquidation.  The sugar will turn a light golden brown.  At this point remove the pan from the heat and add the sliced butter stirring until it becomes a smooth mixture.  At this point, carefully whisk in the vanilla.

Finally, the tarte tatin

Place the bananas in the caramel sauce starting on the outside and moving in a circular fashion.  Don’t be afraid of getting gooey yummy sticky fingers and play with the bananas until they cover all the caramel.  Put the pan back on the stovetop and without shaking this time, cook again at medium heat for 3-4 minutes.  Remove from the cooktop.

Take your puff pastry from the fridge and carefully lay it overtop of the pan, tucking it in as you would a child at night so that it moves slightly under the bananas around the edges.  Cut a few small slits in the top and place in the oven.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

Have a large serving plate at hand as you are going to invert the pan onto it immediately upon removing it from the oven.  This can be a bit tricky as the caramel sauce is still quite liquid (and of course steaming hot).  Maybe enlist someone else to help?  There is definitely a need for oven mitts or some other facsimile thereof!

Remove the skillet from the oven, place your plate overtop and immediately invert the tarte tatin onto the plate. Devour!