christmas dessert

HOOOOLLLLYYYY cow.

You know that moment when you take a bite of something, then immediately you forget what conversation you were having, the eyelids fall down, the eyeballs roll back, everything rolls in slow-mo, and you don’t even know what kind of sound comes out of your closed and full mouth?

Beware. This will trigger that moment.

My Mom, known as the ‘dessert queen’ among the neighbourhood (despite her uber-healthy lifestyle and diet), has made a Tarte Tatin for special dinner parties for as many years as I can remember. Becoming the queen of Sacertorte, Galettes and Tarte de Anything; all originated from her years of living in Europe as a World Cup freestyle skier. She would never shy away from taking in the different cultures of food between her competitions.

Bringing this mega-dessert to the dinner party is a big ordeal. It may look like a boring upside down pan.

BUT THEN: The big flip.

Everyone comes around to check out what’s under that over-sized, mysterious plate while my Step-Dad uses his muscles to flip the whole thing over without a drop of caramel dislodging from the masterpiece. He’s got this down by now.

Seriously so drool-worthy.

Over the last year, my Mom and Step-Dad, like I, have been educating themselves about plant-based living and getting excited about creating new recipes and transitioning to a vegan lifestyle for longevity, the environment and the animals.

They are is loving it.

So, of course, changing to Veganism couldn’t mean ‘no more Tarte Tatin’… NO WAY.

Last week she came over to a dinner party with the masterpiece. Veganized.

No one could tell any difference! Top it off with coconut whipped cream, and you’re taste-buds are singing all the way to French dessert heaven.

I will admit, that this isn’t the healthiest recipe you will find on my blog. BUT no animals were harmed, and it is a really REALLY amazing treat, so it is worth it. #YoLo (isn’t that what you’re supposed to say here?)

Benefits:

–Pears are packed with fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K and copper. They’ve got those antioxidant too to ward off disease and keep your insides happy.

-Vegan Butter isn’t quite a health food, but it’s a heck of a lot better than the typical butter from a cow. Normal butter has the same negative health effects as any dairy product out there. It’s a growth-promoting ingredient, that we really aren’t meant to digest. Dairy is something meant for a calf to grow from a calf to a 400 lb cow. It’s packed with saturated fat, indigestible proteins, and hormones that are meant to lead to weight gain. The dairy industry and the way the animals are treated isn’t something I’ll get into here, but go to the ‘why plant-based‘ page and scroll down to the animal section for more information on that. Here we used Earth Balance, but there are some delicious homemade vegan butters that you can make as well. More on that to come! Earth Balance is working with Palm-Oil farms to help with sustainability on that as well. 

MOM’S VEGAN TARTE TATIN  – Size Large

**Makes a 14″ diameter pie (half all of the ingredients if you don’t have a pan that big!)

Time: Day Ahead: make pastry and chill coconut milk in fridge. On the day about 1 hour.

Ingredients:

You will need:

-oven-safe pan

-a plate that over laps the edges of your pan

–stand mixer with paddle and whisk attachment

Pastry:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp organic cane sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp vegan butter (we used Earth Balance) chopped into chucks and chilled in the fridge 10 minutes at least
• 4-5 tbsp cold water

Filling:

• 3/4 cup vegan butter (we used Earth Balance)
• 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 9 bartlett pears (they don’t have to be ripe!), halved lengthwise

Coconut Whipped Cream:

• 1 can of cold coconut milk (chill in fridge for at least 24 hours
• 1 tbsp maple syrup

Directions:

1. Make pastry: Add flour and sugar in mix master. Then add chilled butter chunks to flour mixture and blend until pea-sized. Then add cold water and mix into a ball. Shape into flattened ball, wrap in Saran Wrap, and chill in the fridge OVERNIGHT. Also – be sure to put your coconut milk can in the fridge at least the day before.
2. Next day. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
3. In a deep pan, melt vegan butter with brown sugar over low-medium heat. Let caramelize for about 5 minutes. The mixture should be bubbling but prevent burning by consistently stirring.
4. Turn element down to low, carefully place pears cut-side down (careful not to burn yourself on the caramel mixture), in a pattern you’d like to see on the tarte once it’s flipped! You may have to cut some pears into quarters to fill spaces between the halved pears.
5. Cover with a lid to keep moisture in and let simmer for 5-10 minutes or until you can easily poke a knife through the pears (the harder the pear, the longer you will need to simmer it).
6. Remove pan from element to let cool for 10 minutes
7. While cooling roll out the pastry from the fridge: Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface, and use rolling pin from the centre out to create a circular dough that is about 1/4 inch thick. It’s ok if it is bigger than the pan, because the extra width will be tucked under.
8. To easily maneuver the rolled-out pastry, fold once in half, then again in quarter.
9. Lift the folded pastry onto the pear pan, then unfold to completely cover the pan. Tuck the overhanging pastry into the pan (doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect).
10. Bake for 20 minutes
11. Let sit for 10 minutes
12. Make coconut whipped cream: Flip coconut can upside down after it’s been chilled in the fridge, open the can and pour the coconut water off the top (drink it!). Use just the thick, white cream. Blend the cream and maple syrup together in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
13. THE FLIP (aka the show, or the tricky part). Wear an apron and oven mitts. With a spatula, gently separate pastry from the sides of the pan. Start by placing your plate upside-down on the pan. Then, get low, and place your hands so your fingers are on top gripping the bottom of the plate, and your thumbs are gripping the bottom of the pan. In a swift motion, and a flick of the wrist, flip them together as a unit (flip AWAY from you) so the plate ends up underneath the now upside-down pan. Slowly lift the pan off to show the world your piece of delicious art work.