Saturday 14 July 2012

Upside-Down-Upside-Down!

Crostata Intrecciata "Tatin" di Uvaspina e Cannella
Woven Gooseberry & Cinnamon Tart Tatin


So when was the last time YOU ate gooseberries? For me it had been more than 25 years! I really hadn't eaten them in the whole time I have lived here in Germany. So I didn't need to consider for too long whether to pick up a trayful at the indoor market hall today... they are in season!

They have a wonderfully tart and tangy flavor... so I decided indeed to make a tart with them! Just a simple affair with cinnamon and a little honey- but just the right thing to bring out the flavor at the same time. And what could you ask for more?


I washed, topped and tailed the gooseberries, meaning that I pulled out or snipped off those fibrous little end pieces at the tops and bottoms. I popped them straight into a small frying pan, with a drop of water, a squeeze of honey and a good sprinkle of cinnammon. Yum! I added a tiny pinch of salt, stirred the berries carefully and set about preparing the pastry whilst I removed the berries from the heat.



Obviously, I used a store-bought puff pastry, which I cut into strips of around 1/2" and the same length as the diameter as my little frying pan. And then I began to lay the strips over the gooseberries, in a random, criss-cross pattern. I finished the pastry off by using the last 2 strips and making an outside round edge.

Into the oven it went at the maximum setting for 10-15 minutes until it was golden brown. A traditional "tart tatin", is an upside-down pie, made usually of fruit and then covered in a single layer of pastry. Once the pastry is baked, it you flip the pie upside down to serve it. Well I decided to keep this desert "flipped" and left it the right way up for a change, so that we could see the pretty pastry. I enjoyed mine with a little powdered sugar and a nice cup of cappuccino. Now doesn't that sound like a great idea?

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