Guest Recipe: Jordan's Mulled Wine & Pear Tarte Tatin

Winter is the perfect time of year for warming flavours and homely comfort food, and that's exactly what Jordan delivers with his Mulled Wine & Pear Tarte Tatin.

Pears poached in cinnamon and cloves, mulled wine, a velvety caramel sauce, all sat atop mouth-watering pastry. This festive dessert is sure to be a hit as an alternative Christmas pudding.

• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour, 20 mins (plus overnight refrigeration)

Serves: 8

Category: Dessert,Cakes

Ingredients

• 8 Pears
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 8 Cloves
• Lemon peel
• 10 Black Peppercorns
• 150g Granulated Sugar
• 700ml Fruity Red Wine
• 500g Puff Pastry
• 50g Unsalted Butter

Method

1. Begin by making the poaching liquid. Combine the wine, sugar, spices and lemon peel in a saucepan and bring to a boil over a medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, peel the pears and cut them in half, removing the core with a melon baller or small spoon.
3. Once peeled, place the halved pears in the poaching liquid and simmer 15 minutes.
4. Take the pears out of the saucepan and allow to cool. Do the same with the poaching liquid, removing the spices and lemon peel and discarding. When both are at room temperature, pour the poaching liquid over the pears and refrigerate overnight.
5. When ready the next day, preheat the oven to 190ºC.
6. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface until it’s around 0.5mm thick. Cut out a circle around an inch bigger than the ovenproof frying pan you will be using. Leave to one side.
7. Retrieve the poaching liquid and pour into a wide saucepan. Over a medium heat, reduce for 15 minutes until about 75ml of wine reduction remains. Turn off the heat, add the butter to create a caramel and coat the pears in it..
8. Arrange the pears in the frying pan (be careful as the caramel is very hot) and carefully place the pastry on top, gently tucking it in around the edges. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
9. Once cooked, remove from the oven. Place a plate on top of the pastry. Moving quickly (and being very careful of any molten caramel escaping from the pan), turn out the tart onto the plate.
10. Leave for a minute or two to allow the caramel to cool down/set. Serve either with cream or ice cream.

What's better than mulled wine? A hot dessert infused with mulled wine of course! If you liked Jordan's tarte tatin, you'll find more delicious recipes on his mouth-watering website, www.foodandwriting.co.uk.

Have a look and let us know how your desserts turn out.