Versatile tarte tatin

Tarte tatin has always been my favourite cake because it is simple and versatile. It leaves space to surprising combinations, both sweet and savoury. In this case, I wanted to pair it with flavours of my region of origin, that is Liguria, where thyme and figs flourish and always accompany my cooking and that of my family. The sweetness of the figs and of the caramel, aromatised with thyme and strongly characterised by the scents of hop and malt given by Birra Moretti Grand Cru, is finely balanced by the sapidity of the Normandy butter ice-cream.

Fig tarte tatin with Birra Moretti Grand Cru caramel aromatised with thyme and salted butter ice-cream

Recipe for 6 people

INGREDIENTS
for the tarte tatin
600 g of flour
70 g of sugar
340 g of butter
6 eggs
4 figs

for the beer caramel
10 g of sugar
330 ml of Birra Moretti Grand Cru
1 small bunch of thyme

for the ice-cream
200 g of sugar
100 ml of water
200 ml of milk
600 ml of cream
200 g of salted butter
10 g of corn starch
6 egg yolks
20 ml of glucose

METHOD
for the ice-cream
Prepare a caramel with water and sugar. Add the milk and cream and bring the mixture to the boil. Heat the butter in a thin saucepan until it becomes hazel brown. Filter it in the corn starch and mix. Pour the butter in the egg yolks you have previously whipped with the glucose. Add the milk, cream and caramel. Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes while continuing to mix with a whisk. Cool down while mixing from time to time, in order to avoid lumps. Once the mixture is at room temperature, cream it in the ice-cream machine for 45-50 minutes, then place it in the freezer at -18°C.

Vladimiro Poma and Claudio Sadler

for the tart tatin dough
Soften the butter and put it in a bowl with the sieved flour, the sugar and the egg yolks. Work the mixture until you obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Leave to rest for 2 hours in the fridge.
for the beer caramel.
Reduce the Birra Moretti Grand Cru with 10 g of sugar until you obtain a caramel. Once this is ready, add a knob of butter, some leaves of thyme and a couple of drops of lemon. Filter the caramel into the baking tray on which the tarte tatin will be placed.

for the tarte tatin
Remove the dough from the fridge, add a little flour and roll it with a rolling-pin until it is 4 mm thick, making sure you work it quickly. With a pastry cutter, cut a disc of the same diameter of the baking tray into which the beer caramel was poured. Cut the figs in half and obtain three segments from each half. Place the figs on the bottom of the baking tray, place the disc of dough on top, carefully closing every side. Bake in the oven at 170°C for 18 minutes. Once done, remove from the oven and leave it to rest for 5-8 minutes to allow the caramel to thicken.

for the service
Turn the baking tray upside-down on a plate decorated with some sprigs of thyme and serve with a quenelle of salted butter ice-cream.