Easy rum flambéed pineapple tarte tatin
Golden caramelized pineapple, flaky puff pastry, and a splash of rum make this Easy Rum Flambéed Pineapple Tarte Tatin a truly irresistible dessert. The spicy dark rum adds a delicious flavour depth and the caramelized pineapple creates a sticky, sweet topping. It’s easy to make but looks impressive—perfect for a special treat. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
One day I’m hoping to recover from my obsession with turning every single piece of food in my kitchen into a blog post recipe, but for now, the only thing stopping me from doing that is time.
I had two pineapples lurking around my fruit bowl waiting to get converted into something interesting and the puff pastry is always in the freezer. A tartin popped to mind. I’ve done a few over the years and included a poached quince tartin recipe in my new cookbook ‘sweet’. They really are the easiest possible dessert to knock together at the last-minute.
Pineapples remind me of summer and tropical Islands so I decided to use a whipped coconut cream as the accompaniment instead of whipped cream. I had never done this before. I also used palm sugar, which next to a natural raw demarera is my favourite sugar. It’s so delicious I can just nibble on it like candy. I think a brown sugar works best here as it adds a delicious caramel flavour to the syrup.
If you are daring you could add a pinch of dried chilli flakes, a few drops of Tabasco sauce or even saffron to add an exotic spicy dimension to this tartin. All of those go superbly with pineapple. I left it plain this time because I was giving it straight to my teenage twin nephews and I think they would have preferred it this way.
I love to flambé things. It makes me feel all cheffy and takes me back to my Hotel School days. It also allows you to burn off the harshness of the alcohol while leaving behind the flavour. I used a spicy dark rum for this recipe. A splash of vanilla went in too, but I probably should have used the seeds from a pod instead.
Only good things can come about when you combine butter, sugar, pineapples, rum and pastry, and this is my recipe.
Storage Instructions for easy Rum Flambéed Pineapple Tarte Tatin
- Short-Term (Up to 1 Day): Best enjoyed fresh, but you can store leftovers at room temperature, loosely covered, for up to 12 hours.
- Medium-Term (Up to 3 Days): Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in a low oven (150°C/300°F) for 5–10 minutes to restore crispness.
Serve with whipped coconut cream, cream, or vanilla ice cream.
How to whip coconut cream for the pineapple tarte tatin
To whip coconut cream, simply whisk a tin of coconut cream until it is in soft peaks. it doesn’t whip up very stiffly like cream. I added two tablespoons of icing sugar to the cream to sweeten it slightly and added a few drops of vanilla extract for additional flavour.
If you want to leave the alcohol out, simply do so and skip the flambee stage.
A few of my favourite pineapple recipes:
Lettuce tacos with chipotle chicken and grilled pineapple salsa
Pineapple carpaccio with a ginger, mint, lime and chilli dressing
Easy rum flambéed pineapple tarte tatin
Ingredients
- 250 grams sheet all-butter puff pastry thawed in the fridge to room temperature
- 50 gram butter
- 2 medium pineapples tops and bottoms trimmed, skins cut off
- 1/2 cup palm sugar or demerara sugar
- 80 ml dark rum
- 1 tsp vanilla or the seeds from a vanilla pod
- coconut cream fresh cream or vanilla ice cream to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F
- Cut the flesh off the pineapple core to make about 1.5cm slices. Melt the butter in a large (wide) non-stick frying pan until bubbling. Add the sliced pineapple along with the sugar and let it simmer. This will take about 3 minutes.
- Add the rum and ignite this with a flame. Allow the alcohol to cook off and the flames to die down. Add the vanilla extract. Cook for a further 2 minutes or so. You want the syrup to start thickening and the pineapples to be firm but cooked through.
- When ready, empty the fruit and syrup into a sealed cake tine, or smaller frying pan (skillet). I have a 24cm shallow stainless steel pan that is perfect for tartin (pictured above). Arrange the pieces to cover the entire surface of the pan. There may be some overlap. Place the chilled square of puff pastry on top and stretch it to cover the surface, tucking in an excess pastry at the corners.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes and until the puff pastry is golden brown. I like to cool this to room temperature before tipping it out onto a flat plate. You may need to run a spatula around the inner rim of the tartin to loosen it.
Notes
- Short-Term (Up to 1 Day): Best enjoyed fresh, but you can store leftovers at room temperature, loosely covered, for up to 12 hours.
- Medium-Term (Up to 3 Days): Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in a low oven (150°C/300°F) for 5–10 minutes to restore crispness
- To whip coconut cream, simply whisk a tin of coconut cream until it is in soft peaks. it doesn’t whip up very stiffly like cream. I added 2 tablespoons of icing sugar to the cream to sweeten it slightly and added a few drops of vanilla extract for additional flavour. If you want to leave the alcohol out, simply do so and skip the flambee stage.
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Ooh what a lovely way to use Pineapple in a dessert. I like that you used whipped coconut cream, great for lactose free. Thank you for a great recipe. Sammie https://www.feastingisfun.com
Looks super yummy! Love playing around with store bought pastry, so convenient (and looks very impressive)