Banana Tarte Tatin (Vegan Pastry Recipe)
Today we are making a vegan pastry recipe for a Banana Tarte Tatin! So, Tarte Tatin is a French dessert. It’s an upside down tart that uses butter and sugar to make caramel, then a golden brown pastry crust and fruit to top (usually apple). The tart is then flipped upside down into a plate after baking, and the bottom becomes the top!
The French also call this dessert tarte des demoiselles Tatin (tart of two unmarried women named Tatin). This is because two French sisters ran a hotel in the late 1800’s called l’Hotel Tatin. One day, the sister who worked in the kitchen made her specialty apple tart upside down by accident, and soon after, another restaurant in France put the dessert on their menu. From there, it became a hit!
That is why the original fruit is also apples in an authentic French recipe. Feel free to try replacing the bananas we use today with apples or another fruit to make more sweet dessert pies, such as peaches, berries or cherries to make it a cherry pie flavor!
Nadiya’s Time to Eat
Nadiya’s Time to Eat is a Netflix show that premiered on Netflix a few years ago. I remember watching it over the initial quarantine period in 2020, and thinking to myself how easy her desserts were. Except many of the dishes, especially desserts, weren’t vegan.
They were easy enough to veganize though, so that’s exactly what I tried to do with today’s Tarte Tatin that I had seen on one of her episodes!
I had to double the filling, use vegan butter, ditch the ice cream portion and use half the bananas it called for. It turned out pretty amazing for just five ingredients! Most desserts, especially a tart or pie, would be more complicated (you would think)!
But this one tops the list of failproof desserts! Well … almost failproof. I did burn the caramel the first time through, but only because I wasn’t watching it closely enough. So do keep an eye on that!
Easy Preparation
This is a fairly basic recipe for making at home. The first step is making the caramel with butter and sugar on the stovetop. Next, you add those to the pan, and add a little bit of hazelnuts, bananas, and flaky layers of puff pastry on top. Then you bake it! Easy peasy.
Note that the flaky pastry needs to be served warm – it loses the crunchiness and becomes soggy if you don’t eat it fresh (It’s not like a pie, that could also taste great when it’s cold).
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Pastry Recipe
5-ingredient Easy Dessert: This recipe is great for vegan baking on a plant-based diet because all of the five easy ingredients have substitutes that use no animal products, such as the puff pastry.
It’s also an easy recipe for someone who’s totally not a pastry chef (me) and doesn’t want to spend hours rolling out pie dough. For example, when I have a family coming over on a hot summer day and I want to serve them a great dish, I always know that dish will make for a good time!
Substitutions
Puff Pastry: This is the perfect base that works like a flaky pie crust when it’s turned upside down! Many puff pastries may contain butter though. Check the ingredients for one that is vegan. These are some good vegan puff pastry brands!
You may be able to find gluten free puff pastry as well, but I haven’t tried one. I would think that a gluten-free substitute would use a gluten free all purpose flour blend as compared to using almond flour or the likes, which doesn’t flake.
Vegan Butter: I chose to use salted, Melt brand of non – dairy butter sticks. Do not use coconut oil or another fat aside from vegan butter.
Brown Sugar: Try coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. For best results, do not substitute any other sugars, as they do not have the same “caramel-like” taste as brown or coconut sugars do.
Bananas: Use fresh, ripe bananas without spots. The bananas should ideally be bright yellow in color and make a small indent if pressed. Not green, not spotty and not mushy. Think of the perfect banana emoji and find one that looks like that for the best taste in this recipe!
Hazelnuts: Use raw, un-roasted hazelnuts. Substitute with raw pecans, blanched slivered almonds or walnuts instead.
Whipped Cream: I used Gay Lea brand of vegan coconut whipped cream. It comes out as whip from an aerosol can, just like regular whip.
Vegan Pastry Recipe Notes
- To make more sweet recipes based off of this, next time I would make it a chunky money flavor by drizzling melted peanut butter and chocolate over top, or add a pinch of pumpkin pie spice into the caramelizing bananas to make it fall-spiced!
More Easy Vegan Recipes & Sweet Treats
Peppermint Matcha Nanaimo Bars: This recipe is a mint & matcha holiday twist on the triple-layer, Canadian favorite Nanaimo Bars recipe!
Pecan Toffee Bark: Pecans and caramelized butter with melted chocolate top a graham cracker crust to make a crunchy toffee bark!
Caramel Chocolate Tart: This recipe is a no-bake, triple layer tart recipe. It uses a chocolate crust made in the food processor, a thick coconut milk caramel filling and a rich chocolate ganache topping!
S’mores Fudge: Five ingredients make up this fudge recipe, studded with mini vegan marshmallows and graham crackers to make a rocky road flavor for the holiday season!
Banoffee Pie in a Cup: Banoffee is a combination of banana-toffee! This recipe uses a graham crackers crust, a homemade toffee-like filling and whipped cream on top for a decadent pie in a cup!
No Bake Oreo Funfetti Cake Balls: These are an easy dessert recipe to serve at a gathering! Crushed Vanilla Oreos with sprinkles and vegan cream cheese make this a quick recipe that’s especially fun to make with children!
Golden Yellow Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting: Say hello to spring and Easter time with this vegan golden yellow cake with a chocolate frosting and colorful sprinkles!
Vegan Funfetti Buttercream Frosting: Frosting can be used anytime, anywhere! This recipe is a vegan buttercream frosting, studded with funfetti sprinkles (or keep it vanilla)!
If you make this Vegan Pastry Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!
Banana Tarte Tatin (Vegan Pastry Recipe)
Equipment
- 9-Inch Pie Dish
- Stovetop Pan
Ingredients
- 1 block/sheet vegan puff pastry dough
- 5 tbsp vegan butter
- 7 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 fresh bananas sliced medium thick into circles
- 3 tbsp raw hazelnuts chopped into small pieces
Instructions
- Allow the frozen pastry to thaw out in the fridge for a few hours beforehand. When ready to use the pastry, take it out of the fridge and roll it out on a clean work surface. Then preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a stovetop pan over medium heat, add the sugar and butter. Stir it around continuously and let the mixture get darker and thicken. It will burn quickly, but you can smell when it is becoming fragrant and caramelizing. This takes a few minutes, but watch it carefully and remove from heat when it's done.
- When that is removed from the heat, pour it into the pie plate. Then sprinkle the hazelnuts on top.
- Place the banana circles side by side on top of the hazelnuts, covering the entire pie tray in one layer of bananas.
- Take the rolled out pastry dough and place it on top of the pie tray. Lift the edges and tuck it around the sides of the pan so it will puff up in the oven. Cut a slit on top to allow steam to escape.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is toasted and risen. Once you take it out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes.
- Take a plate and put it on top of the pie tray. Flip it all upside down, and hit the bottom of the tray to allow the tart tatin to fall upside down into the plate.
- Cut it into 8 slices and serve it warm with vegan whipped cream or ice cream!
Notes
- Storage
- Store at room temperature for up to one day, or in the refrigerator for up to two days. Cover the pie tray with plastic wrap before storing.
- Based off this recipe
