Pear Tarte Tatin with Walnut Praline Ice Cream

Ingredients

Equipment

• Cooking thermometer (optional)
• Baking sheet lined with a silicone mat
• Ice-cream machine
• 25 cm heavy-based ovenproof frying pan or tatin dish
• Electric hand whisk
• Sieve

Method

1. Custard for the ice cream. Heat the milk, cream and vanilla seeds in a pan until just below boiling, then take off the heat and leave to stand. Whisk the yolks and sugar with an electric whisk until thick, pale and leaving a ribbon trail. Whisk in the warm milk, pour it back into the pan and cook over a very low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, whisking all the time, until smooth and thick enough to coat a spoon: 83°C (181°F) on a thermometer. Sieve into a clean bowl and cool it over a bowl of ice.
2. Start the rough puff. Mix the flour and salt, then rub in the chilled butter with your fingertips until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the ice-cold water a little at a time, just enough to bring it together into a ball.
3. Fold in the frozen butter. Roll the dough into a 30 x 10 cm rectangle with a short end toward you. Coarsely grate half the frozen butter over the bottom two-thirds, then fold the top third down and the bottom third up like a letter. Turn it 90°, roll it to the same size again and repeat with the rest of the butter. Chill in an airtight container for up to 30 minutes.
4. Two more folds. Roll and fold twice more the same way, without butter, chilling the pastry between turns. Heat the oven while it chills. Oven: 400°F / 200°C (180°C fan)
5. Walnut praline. Toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes, until dark golden. Melt the sugar in a pan over a medium heat to a golden caramel, swirling now and then, stir in the walnuts to coat them, and tip them onto one half of the silicone mat. Sprinkle with the salt, fold the other half of the mat over and roll it flat with a rolling pin while warm. Leave to set hard, then peel off and chop into small (not fine) pieces.
6. Churn the ice cream. Churn the custard in an ice-cream machine for 20 to 25 minutes, until softly set, adding the praline just before it is done. Scrape it into a container and freeze until firm.
7. Caramel and pears. Melt the sugar in the ovenproof pan over a medium heat to a golden caramel, swirling now and then. Stir in the butter, add the pear halves and spoon the caramel over them. Turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes, until the pears are tender but still hold their shape. Lift the pears onto a plate lined with kitchen paper and let them cool a little.
8. Arrange. Pour most of the caramel into a heatproof jug, leaving a thin layer in the pan. Arrange the pears cut side up, pointy ends meeting in the middle.
9. Pastry on top. Roll the pastry to about 5 mm thick and cut a disc a little bigger than the pan. Roll it onto the rolling pin, unroll it over the pears, tuck the edges down the sides of the pan and prick the top with a fork.
10. Bake. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden and the caramel is bubbling at the sides. Oven: 400°F / 200°C (180°C fan)
11. Turn out. Leave it for 5 minutes while you warm the caramel in the jug. Carefully turn the tart out onto a serving plate, spoon the warm caramel over and serve in slices with the ice cream.