Swirls of caramel and slices of perfectly baked fruit mingle in this dreamy dessert.

Easy to make and gorgeous to display, this upside-down golden beauty will no doubt have you hailed as the new pastry wizard.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 to 4 firm bananas, sliced into 3/4" rounds
• Pinch cinnamon
• 1 sheet (half 450-g pkg) frozen puff pastry, thawed
• Vanilla ice cream
• 3 tbsp chopped salted pistachios

DIRECTIONS

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a small heavy saucepan, cook the sugar and water together over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is a light amber colour, about 7 minutes; remove from the heat.

2 Being careful to avoid any splatter, add the butter, stirring until it’s melted. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 9" round cake pan, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. Layer the banana slices in concentric circles overtop of the sugar mixture, being careful not to touch it. Sprinkle the bananas with the cinnamon.

3 Gently place the sheet of pastry over the bananas, tucking the edges between the pan and the filling; cut four vents in the centre of the pastry to let steam escape.

4 Place the cake pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake the tarte until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the tarte cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully inverting it onto a heatproof platter. Serve with the ice cream and the pistachios.

Tip: If bananas aren’t your fruit of choice, this tarte tatin can be modified with other fruit, such as apples, peaches or pears.

Serves: 8