This Trend Flips a Beloved Dessert Upside-Down—and It’s Surprisingly Easy!

Alyse Whitney
·2 min read

All you need is store-bought puff pastry and your imagination.

<p>Meredith</p>

Meredith

The secret to making bakery-worthy tarts at home is flipping everything you know on its head. The latest TikTok baking trend utilizes store-bought puff pastry and a few simple ingredients so anyone can make impressive pastries at home, and the key to the whole process is building the dessert upside down.

What Is an Upside-Down Puff Pastry Tart?

Instead of nestling pieces of fruit inside pastry and baking, which can sometimes get soggy, this method has toppings placed directly on a parchment-lined sheet pan before blanketing in a sheet of puff pastry. This allows the pastry to have ample air circulation for even baking—and prominent puffing!—and a dramatic unveiling when you flip the pastries over to see beautifully caramelized tops from direct contact with the hot pan.

TikTok user @lilyghodrati’s original video has garnered more than 52 million views (and counting!) and 3.4 million likes since being posted on April 11, and we were inspired by her honey and nectarine version to make our own recipe for 4-Ingredient Fruit Tarts that can be customized with any type of sliced fruit you like—such as apples, pears, plums, or peaches—nestled into a pool of honey, blanketed with puff pastry, and brushed with egg wash.

But why stop there? TikTok sure hasn’t, with both sweet and savory renditions including a simple strawberry and brown sugar combo by @plumesweets, a caramelized shallot, gruyère, and ham version from @lindseyeatsla, and a giant (full sheet of puff pastry) asparagus and goat cheese tart from @thisisdeeskitchen.

<p>Yoly</p>

Yoly

Upside-Down Tart Ideas

A quick scroll through the “upside down puff pastry” or “upside down tart” discover pages shows hundreds of other options, but if you have debilitating decision-making problems like us, here are five ideas to try for your next baking experiment—preferably while blasting A*Teens “Upside Down” (and possibly bouncing off the ceiling).

  1. Triple Berry: Brown sugar with sliced strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, topped with whipped cream or ice cream after baking.

  2. Brie & Apple: Hot honey base with sliced brie and apple, topped with more hot honey after baking.

  3. Caprese: Balsamic glaze base with halved cherry tomatoes (cut-side down) or tomato slices and Parmesan sprinkled on top of puff pastry, topped with sliced basil after baking.

  4. Pizza: Honey (or hot honey for a kick), pepperoni or other cured meats or thinly sliced veggies, sliced low-moisture mozzarella base. Spread jarred marinara sauce across puff pastry, then flip sauce-side down onto the ingredients.

  5. Ratatouille: Olive oil, thinly sliced eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers, then pastry. Parmesan on top!