Upside-Down Banana-Coffee Tart Recipe
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We got the inspiration for this recipe from the French apple upside-down tart known as tarte Tatin. For our version, we’ve replaced the apples with bananas and infused the caramel with coffee.
What to buy: Look for firm-ripe bananas that are still tinged with a bit of green—if they are too ripe, they’ll turn to mush in the oven.
Special equipment: A 12-inch cast iron skillet is perfect for this recipe; however, if you don’t have one, any heavy-bottomed, oven-safe frying pan will work.
Be sure to have a platter or plate slightly larger than your skillet handy for turning out the tart once it’s cooled. One with a slight lip or rim is preferable, as the caramel tends to spread a little once the tart is unmolded.
Game plan: For a slacker solution, use high-quality store-bought pie dough in place of making your own.
This recipe was featured in our Cast Iron Cooking story.
- Basic Pie Dough
- 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
- 1 (4-inch) cinnamon stick
- 3 (3-inch) strips lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 firm-ripe bananas
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Coffee, cinnamon, or vanilla ice cream for serving
- Make dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Heat the oven to 425°F and arrange the rack in the center.
- Melt butter over medium-high heat in a 12-inch cast iron skillet or other large, heavy oven-safe pan. Add brown sugar, coffee, cinnamon stick, and lemon zest, stirring continuously until mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring frequently, until sugar is completely melted and mixture is thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and lemon zest and discard. Stir in vanilla extract and remove the skillet from heat.
- Peel bananas and cut on the bias into 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Add banana slices and lemon juice to syrup mixture and stir gently to coat thoroughly. If desired, arrange banana slices in a decorative pattern.
- On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll dough into a round that is just larger than the skillet. Lay it over the banana filling, tucking overhanging dough around the sides. Prick dough with a fork in several places.
- Bake until crust is puffed and golden and filling is bubbling around the edges, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes. Run a spatula around the perimeter of the tart and place a rimmed platter that is slightly larger than the cast iron skillet upside down over the pan. Flip the skillet and plate over to invert the tart. Slice the warm tart into wedges and serve with ice cream.
"Tucking overhanging dough slightly DOWN THE INSIDE of the pan" would be more illustrative of the proceedure needed--you need to form a short lip of dough to hold the sauce once you unmold.
Just a suggestion. I use puff pastry dough when I make a Tart Tatin and it always gets raves. Super easy.
I do the classic apple tarte tatin frequently and I always do it with bought pastry - not the baked crust but the fresh pastry to be baked by yourself. I found that the bought pastry is usually more plain than the one I make and goes better with the caramel in the tart. Also, I am never able to roll the pastry as thin as the commercial pre-rolled pastry, so I use that one.
I serve the pie with creme fraiche or mascarpone mixed with sour cream. This gives the sweet pie a nice fresh counterpart.
I made a sugar free version of this recipe this evening. I am not a great fan of cooked bananas in any form but I must admit that the finished dessert turned out to be quite delicious. We did the "scoop of ice cream" treatment. I will try it again, using pears. It's certainly good enough to include in my recipe collection. One word of caution: Avoid using those nasty production line pie shells. The texture of the tart shell is a major factor in the appeal for this dish.
sounds delish!
I made this, and found the lemon not very complimentary to the banana flavor, and the end result a bit too liquid. I turned it out and had enough dough for a second go in the fridge under saran, so i made a second, but modified it a bit.
I omitted the lemon juice but not zest, added eight Kraft caramels and replaced the coffee with two tablespoons of Monin espresso syrup.
I also used a Cuprinox Tarte Tatin pan, mostly just because i have one, and was specifically searching for a reason to use it again, even though your recipe was aimed at a cast iron crowd.
This looks perfect for a brunch. How long does it keep?
I made this for a very decadent brunch. Mine turned out very syrup-y, but in a good way. It went well with the crust. And I also found it to be a tad more lemon-y than ideal.
This went over well at the party I made it for. I thought the lemon juice was a bit too strong, though. Next time I will cut it back a bit.
OMG, made this for dessert tonight and it is beyond delicious. The coffee ice cream just put it over the top. But whipped cream is good, too! I had no problem whatsoever turning the tarte out of the pan, just ran a knife around the edge first (as suggested).
This recipe is a KEEPER--thanks!
Can't wait to try it! I'm off to the grocery store now...
I made something similar to this for Christmas dessert, but did it with sliced bananas and pineapples, and mixed a bit of ginger preserves in the syrup. Came out really lovely. Very comforting, in a sort of tropical kinda way. :)
Here are some answers:
1. The filling will bubble up around the edges of crust, but not through the holes.
2. Greasing the pan is unnecessary. Not only is your cast-iron pan nonstick, there's enough butter in the caramel to make sure that it comes right out. It might be helpful to run a knife around the outside of the tart right before you unmold it, just in case it did adhere, but the most important thing to remember is to turn out the tart 15 minutes after it comes out of the oven. Otherwise the bananas will overcook and the caramel might harden.
Thanks for commenting!
Two questions: How can you tell the filling is bubbling if the dough is covering it--does it bubble up through holes? Do you need to grease the rim of the skillet to make sure the dough comes off easily?