Yeah yeah, I know. More pears. But I had to save the best for last. These are my absolute favorite pear tarts in the world. I think it’s mainly because it incorporates almond cream. Yeah, definitely because it incorporates almond cream. You don’t get much better than almond cream and poached pears!
Thankfully, I’ve already done the hard part – typing out the recipe for the tart shell! I used the same recipe from yesterday’s post, which can be found here. Now that we have that over with, we need to poach some more pears! This recipe involves fewer ingredients than the previous poached pear recipe from two days ago and is also from the book Mes Tartes.
- 500g granulated sugar
- 500g water
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 star anise
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 8 small William or Bartlett pears, ripe but still firm
Combine all of the above ingredients, except for the pears, in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Peel the pears, remove the stems, cut them in half, and core them. Put all of the pears in the syrup and poach them, letting thems immer for about 15 minutes so that the syrup cooks them gently. Turn the pears into a bowl and refrigerate them in their spiced syrup overnight.
Prepare the tart dough and bake blind. Again, I used mini tart shells, but you can use an 8″ pan instead.
You will also need some creme fraiche again. If you don’t have any leftover from the previous recipe, you can find it again at the same link provided for the tart dough above.
Preheat over to 350 F.
Now for the almond cream. Mmmm.
- 150g softened butter
- 120g confectioners’ sugar
- 150g finely ground blanched almonds
- 60g flour
- 3 eggs
In a bowl, combine the butter andsugar. Beat until the mixture is lighter in color and silky smooth. Add the eggs and continue beating for a few minutes.
Mix the flour and ground almonds with your fingertips. Pour the flour and almond mixture in a stream into the bowl with the butte, sugar, and egg mixture, stirring gently with a spatula.
Now you will need 400g of said almond cream, mix it with the following:
- 50g creme fraiche
- Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
- 3/8 tsp of finely grated fresh ginger
- 3/8 tsp ground cinnamon
Sitr gently, then place an even layer of almond cream in the bottom of the tart. (The really groovy part of the almond cream is that it will protect your tart shell from becoming soggy as well.) Drain the pear halves. Cut them into thin slices widthwise, being careful not to spoil their shape. and place them like sun rays in the tart.
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown and the almond cream is lightly colored and puff.
To glaze, melt some apricot preserves in a saucepan and brush over the top.
