This easy Caramelized Banana Tart recipe using puff pastry is so simple and tastes fantastic, bananas and caramel are a match made in heaven…
There’s something so special about a caramelized banana tart — the way the sugar bubbles into a glossy caramel and the bananas turn golden and soft. This recipe gives you that bakery-quality dessert with almost no effort. Whether you serve it warm with vanilla ice cream or chilled straight from the fridge, it’s one of those easy desserts that always impresses. Find more ideas in my Easy Dessert Recipes collection
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect for leftover bananas or quick entertaining
- Ready in 25 minutes with only 5 ingredients
- Caramelized bananas with flaky, buttery pastry
- Works with puff or shortcrust pastry
Ingredients
Puff Pastry – go ahead and use shop-bought puff pastry, just make sure it’s a good quality all-butter puff pastry for maximum buttery flavour. Alternatively, you can also use shortcrust pastry. My preference is puff, I love the flakiness it brings to this tarte tatin.
Sugar and Butter – used for the base of the caramel and helps secure and caramelize your banana slices!
Vanilla pod and cinnamon stick – added to the caramel to give a flavour boost and complement the bananas
Bananas – I have cut my bananas into coin-shaped slices but you could slice them lengthways and arrange them in the pan that way. Caramelized bananas are delish!
How to Make a Caramelized Banana Tart
This Banana Caramel Tart recipe is simple to make and assemble:
- Add the butter and sugar to a non-stick frying pan with a vanilla pod and cinnamon and heat to make a caramel.
- Slice the bananas and arrange them in the caramel to fill up the pan
- Cover the pan with puff pastry and tuck in around the bananas. Place in the oven until the pastry is crisp and golden (use an ovenproof frying pan).
It is so simple and can be great to show off your cooking skills with this one. This Banana Caramel Tart goes great with Ice Cream or just some soft whipped cream as I have done.
Tips from My Kitchen
Serve warm with ice cream or crème fraîche for contrast.
Slightly underripe bananas work best — they hold their shape during caramelizing.
Don’t walk away from the pan when melting sugar — it goes from golden to burnt fast!
Watch How To Make This
FAQ’s
When making a tarte tatin, it’s important to pierce the pastry and make holes for the steam to escape. This allows the pastry to cook and stay crisp.
Tarte Tatin can be made with either puff pastry or shortcrust pastry. It is delicious with both, but my preference is with puff pastry as I enjoy the flaky pastry.
Tarte tatin can be served warm or when cooled on the same day it is made.
The best pan to use for this recipe is a non-stick frying pan so that the tart releases easily once cooked. A cast-iron skillet can be used if it is well-seasoned and non-stick.
Tarte tatin can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. The pastry base will lose its crispness so it’s best eaten on the day it is made.
Absolutely. Ensure the tart is well wrapped and it can keep for a few weeks, freezing can even improve the flavour.
Yes, but thaw and drain them first — too much liquid will make the tart soggy
Yes! It keeps well for 2 days in the fridge — reheat for 5 minutes before serving.
If using puff pastry, no. For shortcrust, a quick 10-minute blind bake helps it stay crisp.
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Caramelized Banana Tart
Ingredients
- 250 g puff pastry
- 5 large bananas
- 150 g caster sugar
- 80 g unsalted butter
- Vanilla pod
- Cinnamon stick
Instructions
- Roll out puff pastry to a quarter of an inch thick round and set aside in the fridge to top the tart
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Measure and weigh out sugar and butter and place together in a 10-inch non-stick frying pan along with cinnamon stick and scraped out vanilla pod and seeds.
- Heat over medium high heat, gently swirling the pan until the sugar and butter have melted and continue to heat until you get a rich brown caramel
- Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool slightly
- Slice the bananas into rounds and arrange in the pan in the caramel
- Place puff pastry round on top of the frying pan over the bananas and tuck in around the edges
- Cut a slit in the pastry around an inch long to allow steam to escape and to ensure the pastry cooks and does not go soggy.
- Place frying pan in the oven and cook for around 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden
- Use an oven glove or folded tea towel when removing the frying pan from the oven – the handle will be extremely hot!
- Serve warm or cold with Ice Cream or softly whipped cream
Hi, I’m Paul! I’m a passionate home chef, recipe developer, and food lover who believes that cooking should be fun, rewarding, and stress-free! Through Scoffs & Feasts, I share my favorite tried-and-tested recipes, cooking tips, and troubleshooting advice to help home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced foodie, I hope my recipes inspire you to try something new.
You forgot the part of when to add the bananas sorry bout that
Easy enough to know but some people may not get it
Thanks for the heads up, I have corrected that issue now – hope you enjoyed the recipe!