Recipe: French Almond Pear Tart

This delicious tart takes a little bit of planning, First you poach the pears, which is a no-brainer. Then you make the shell, add the toppings and bake it again, et voilà – a beautifully golden colored, nicely caramelized tart!

French Almond Pear Tart

This recipe is adapted from the French Pear & Almond Tart Recipe by David Lebovitz, with modifications.

For the poached pears:

• 4 firm and ripe bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 lemon

Instructions (for poaching the pears):

1. Add all the ingredients but the pears in a large saucepan and bring it to a simmer.
2. Add the pears, lower the heat and let it simmer for 15-25 minutes until the pears become tender, turning occasionally
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool.
4. Store the pears in their liquid in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for at least a couple of days, until ready to assemble the tart.

For the tart shell:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 4.5 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, plus little extra for greasing the pan
• a dash of milk

Instructions (for the tart shell):

Here I used the same tart shell from my Blueberry Tart Recipe. It is incredibly buttery and  crumbly.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and grease a shallow 8.5-inch tart pan with butter.
2. In a food processor, cream the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add in the flour and process until the dough forms coarse crumbs. Add in a dash of milk, and mix again. When it is ready, it will still be a loose, crumb-like mixture, not a ball of dough.
3. Pour the mixture into your tart pan, and press down evenly to flatten and cover the surface of the pan, forming a little rim all around. Put in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.

For the topping:

• 6 ounces almond paste, cut into small cubes
• 2 teaspoon flour
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons rum
• poached pears, drained and blotted dry, cut it into slices
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Instructions (for the topping):

1. In a stand mixer, mix the flour and the almond paste until well combined.
2. Add the cubes of butter one by one until the mixture is smooth.
3. Add egg, egg white and rum, beat to combine.

Instructions (for final assembling):

1. Take the tart shell out of the oven.
2. Spread the filling evenly over the baked tart shell.
3. Fan the pears out over the almond filling, then press them in slightly.
4. Sprinkle sliced almond on top.
5. Return to the oven and bake for another 20-30 minutes or until the almond filling between the pears has browned.
6. Remove the tart from the oven and glaze with liquid from the poached pears.
7. Serve warm.

Note:

From the original recipe, I reduced the sugar in the poached pears and I did not add any sugar nor almond extract in the filling. This is because I used the same almond paste I used in my Almond Cake Recipe.  It is made with two types of organic almonds from Sicily (Palma Girgenti and Mandorla Cuore) which adds a delicate and profound flavor that stands well on its own.

Now would you care for a slice?