Pleasantly Surprising "Tarte Tatin"

This was the Baking JDs first attempt to bake together with a (1-month old!) baby in tow. And I'd call it a resounding success! I came over to Sara's house bearing baking ingredients and some other treats, and we got to work.

Sara -- our resident hater of cooked fruit -- chopped the veggies while we snacked on some Marcona almonds, manchego cheese, apricot jam, bread and strawberries. Then we roasted them to perfection.

We took a nice walk through Golden Gate Park with Baby C. mid-baking to enjoy the beautiful day and then got back to work.

I made the caramel on the stove and poured it over the root vegetables in a pan. Then I covered that with a layer of delicious, delicious cheese and some thyme, followed by puff pastry. Yes, don't judge us, we used store-bought puff pastry, but we've made laminate dough before and we'll bring back our A-game soon.

In any case, the cooking tarte smelled divine and came outlooking gorgeous.

We'd both been skeptical about the idea of root vegetables in this context, but this one was a huge success. I'm a big fan of the traditional tarte tatin (with apples) but I would absolutely make this again.

For the March Daring bakers’ challenge, Korena from Korena in the Kitchen taught us that some treats are best enjoyed upside down. She challenged us to make a tarte tatin from scratch.

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Donna Hay’s Glazed Root Vegetable Tarte Tatin

Serves 8–10

Ingredients

2 medium carrots (240g), peeled
2 medium parsnips (500g), peeled
2 small sweet potatoes (kumara) (350g), peeled
2 turnips (450g), peeled
1⁄4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper
1⁄3 cup (80ml) water
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
100g stracchino or taleggio cheese, sliced
4 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
6 sprigs lemon thyme, to serve

Directions

Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F. Cut the carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and turnips into 1cm-thick slices. Divide between 2 large baking trays, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and roast, turning half way, for 30 minutes, or until golden and tender.

While the vegetables are roasting, place the water and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and cook, without stirring, for 6–8 minutes or until light caramel in colour. Remove from the heat and carefully add the vinegar, stirring to combine. Working quickly, pour the caramel evenly onto a 37cm x 24cm baking tray. Arrange the vegetables on top of the caramel, overlapping if necessary, and top with the cheese. Place the 4 slices of pastry over the top of the vegetables (pastry will overlap) leaving a 2cm overhang around the edge of the tray.

Gently press the overlapping pastry to seal and tuck in the overhanging edges. Transfer the tart to the oven on an extra baking tray to catch any spills, reduce the heat to 200°C (400°F) and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat again to 180°C (350°F) and bake for a further 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and cooked. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a board. Cut into squares to serve.