PEAR TARTE TATIN

Brae BIRREGURRA

A restaurant set on farmland in Birregurra, sourcing produce from local farmers and a kitchen garden any green thumb would envy, Brae is undoubtedly the jewel in the crown of food experiences in the Great Ocean Road region.

Awarded Australia’s best regional restaurant on multiple occasions and appearing in the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants, Dan Hunter’s Brae is the ultimate fine dining bucket list food experience.

Organic principles are employed at Brae Farm to produce seasonal vegetables, stone fruits, citrus, nuts, berries, olives, honey and wheat grain. The property is managed using regenerative farming techniques to restore the land and is designed for guests to explore, with dedicated walking paths and interpretative signage reconnecting visitors to their food and the place it comes from.

braerestaurant.com

PEAR TARTE TATIN

INGREDIENTS

(for 4 people)

PUFF PASTRY

Note – Makes enough for two tarts as you may as well get a second one after making your own puff!

Dough

225g water 25g white wine vinegar 500g AP flour + a little for dusting 10g sea salt 50g unsalted butter – liquid but not hot

Butter block

400g flattened out to 15cm x 20cm between parchment Note – this recipe is also possible with store bought puff pastry but ensure to find one that is made with butter.

PEARS

3-4 buerre bosc pears

CARAMEL

65g castor sugar 40g butter diced into 2cm pieces and refrigerated

METHOD

FOR THE PUFF Dough

Combine flour and salt in a mixer and mix with a dough hook for about 30 seconds on lowest setting. Combine water and vinegar. Increase the speed a little and add about half the water mix. Let mix for a minute and then add the rest. Scrape anything dry that might be stuck to the side and continue to mix. Pour in the butter and let the dough come together. Remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for several minutes until it resembles a bread dough – a little tacky, not dry. Shape it like a ball by folding the edges over and then place it into a lightly oiled bowl seam sides down. Cut an x into the top of the dough to help it begin to relax and cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.

Butter block

Place the butter between parchment and using a rolling pin roll it out to the required size (15cm x 20cm) and leave to cool and harden in a refrigerator.

Folds

Remove dough and butter from the fridge and allow to come to a similar temperature and consistency. At this stage the dough may be sticky so use a little flour on the bench and roll out the dough into a rectangle (15cm x 30cm) with the long side parallel to the edge of the bench. Place the butter block on top of the dough with the long side parallel to the bench and fold the short edges of the dough over the butter so that they meet in the middle. Press the edges together, closing the dough but leaving the butter visible on at the top and the bottom. Using a rolling pin roll out the dough away from the edge of the bench until it is around 50cm long. Fold the top third of the dough back towards you and over the middle third and then fold the remaining third (closest to the edge of the bench) away from you and over the rest of the dough – closing the edges with exposed butter. This is one fold. Rotate the dough clock wise 45 degrees so that the dough sits in front of you and the short sides are now parallel to the bench. The dough should resemble a book – with the spine on the left and the open side to the right. Wrap the dough in plastic or place it in a sealable container and rest it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before rolling it out again following the same process exactly as described above. It’s important that after rolling the dough away from yourself and folding it into thirds and turning it 45 degrees clockwise that the dough always remains with the spine to the left. Repeat this process until you have completed 4 folds and turns. After the final fold let the dough rest before rolling it out to a 50cm x 25cm rectangle. Leave it to rest and cool once more before cutting out a 20cm ring.

FOR THE PEARS

Use a melon baller to cut into the base of the pears and remove the cores and seeds. Peel the pears, remove the stems if still attached and cut the pears lengthways from top to bottom and into halves.

FOR THE CARAMEL

Sprinkle the sugar into a medium sided, 20cm pan and place onto a medium heat leaving the sugar to caramelize a deep golden. Quickly stir in the cold butter, adding a little at a time and ensuring that it’s all completely incorporated and homogenous before removing the pan from the heat. Allow the caramel to cool and harden in the pan.

TO BUILD AND BAKE

Pre heat an oven to 190’c. Place the pear halves, with the cut side down, in a circular pattern around the pan and on top of the caramel – season with a little sea salt. Place a puff disk over the pears ensuring that they are all tucked in and that the edge of the puff is touching the side of the pan. Score the top of the puff with a sharp knife, making three of four incisions so that steam can escape when baking. Place the tart into the pre heated oven and bake for 28-30 minutes. Once baked let stand with the oven door open for 2-3 minutes before taking much care to turn the tart upside down onto a plate.

Otway Fields

FORREST

Otway Fields is located in Gerangamete near the hilltop mountain biking town of Forrest and amongst the Otway Harvest Trail of local artisans and producers. Ami Hillege is the president of the Otway Harvest Trail and passionate about local produce. Otway Fields Black Garlic Salt is famed and the preserves made from garden produce can be found… ‘We came to the Otways via a life in the corporate world some 8 years ago. We have built a lifestyle where we are more self sufficient and where we live as sustainably as possible. Growing and sourcing organic produce is important to us. We follow organic food growing practices on our farm and do not use any chemicals on our produce. Our chooks are free range and enjoy the run of their farmyard (sometimes they escape into the vegetable gardens, and that’s not good!)’ Ami Hillege

Ami is dedicated to promoting the region as a wonderful ‘food bowl’ and strives to build valuable networks between producers, makers, artisans and retailers within the region. Frans is a creative builder and fixer of all things. In fact, he renovated the new cabin from its original state as an old loggers hut. He’s a list man and keeps the farm running smoothly. Ami is the chief cook and bottle washer. She plans the planting, looks after the harvesting and seed saving of the kitchen garden. She creates delicious award winning preserves using the organically grown produce grown on the farm.