Pear and Almond Tart. So French.

It is pear season out here and so I Googled ‘pear and almond tart’ and came up with this amazing recipe by Angela Hartnett.  You do need an relaxed hour of two to assemble it, but the results are completely worth it and wonderfully you don’t need to blind bake the pastry case. 

It makes a beautiful and tasty pudding for a smart dinner party, it’s delicious with morning coffee and a slice goes down a treat in the hubbie’s packed lunch. 

Ingredients

For the Pastry

225 g plain flour

110 g unsalted butter

110 g caster sugar

3 medium egg yolks

For the Frangipane

125 g unsalted butter, softened

125 g caster sugar

2 eggs

125 g ground almonds

1 tbsp plain flour

For the Poached Pears

250 g caster sugar

4 good-sized pears

1 cinnamon stick (I has run out so used a couple of tsp of ground cinnamon)

3 cloves

½ a lemon

3 strips of orange zest

½ vanilla pod

Method

1. Make the pastry.  Place the flour and sugar in a large bowl and stir to combine.  Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Stir in the eggs yolks and knead lightly until it forms a smooth ball, you can add 1 tsp of cold water if it refuses to combine.  Then wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. Make the frangipane.  Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs one at a time, then fold in the almonds and flour.  Mix well and pop in the fridge.

4. Make the poached pears.  Out the sugar in a saucepan and add 500 ml of water.  Stir over a moderate heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Peal the pears and add to the pan along with the juice of the lemon, the peel of the lemon, the orange zest, the cinnamon and cloves.  Split the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds, add to the pan along with the pod.  Add more water to cover the pears.

5. Cut a rough circle of baking paper to just fit inside the pan and lay on top of the pears, top with a small lid or saucer to weigh down the pears. Simmer for maximum 20 minutes, but keep checking, the pears should only just be soft as they will continue to cook in the tart.  Remove the pear from the pan and allow to cool.  (You are supposed to discard the cooking liquid but I’ve kept mine and will try and come up with something useful for it).

6. Preheat the oven to 190C. On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry to fit a 23cm x 2.5 cm deep round, fluted loose-bottomed flan tin.  Don’t worry if it breaks, just patchwork the pastry together.  Now here is where I diverge from Angela – do not trim the edges as all tart pastry shrinks on cooking, always leave the edges and then trim with a serrated knife as soon as you take the tart out of the oven, then you get a v pro looking tart.

7. Spread the frangipane on top of the pastry case and smooth over.  Then cut the pears in half lengthways and use a teaspoon to remove the pips and core.  Then lie the halves on a board and slice into thin-ish slices horizontally and arrange over the frangipane.

8. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the pastry is golden and the filing set (again you’ll cut off the excess pastry so it isn’t a drama if it is darker than golden). Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of caster sugar and return to the oven for 10 minutes to finish off the browning.

9. Cool in its tin for 10 minutes then carefully remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of cream or crème fraiche.