January 11, 2012

Classic Pear and Almond Tart


This is a classic French tart to make. It is easy to prepare and looks elegant for a special Sunday dinner. I've made this some weeks ago and quite forgotten to post it. I'd used two adaptations for the recipe and the credits are listed below. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients: (Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2005)
4 firm and ripe Bosc pears, peeled, cored and cut into halves
1 cup sugar
3½ cups water
½ Tbsp. lemon juice
Almond Filling:
2/3 cup blanced slivered almonds
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, beaten
½ tsp. almond extract (optional)
Sweet Tart Crust: (Adapted from Dorie Greenspan)
9-inch tart pan with removable bottom
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup confectioner's sugar
¼ tsp. salt
9 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large ege yolk
Method:
1. For pears: In a medium pot add water, sugar and lemon juice to a boil over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, then add the pears. Reduce heat to medium low heat and simmer until the pears are tender. Turn them over occasionally, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let pears cool in the syrup.
2. For almond filling: Grind almonds and flour in a food processor until well mixed. Add in sugar, then buttern and almond extract, if using. Pulse until mixture is smooth, add in egg yolk to blend. Remove mixture into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
3. For Tart Crust: Add flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor and pulse to combine. Add in the butter and pulse further until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the egg yolk a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. Pulse for another 10 minutes until the mixture begins to clump to a dough. Tum the dough out onto a floured work surface. Knead the dough lightly to just incorporated any missed dry ingredients on the surface. From into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours before rolling.
4. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch fluted tart pan. Place a piece of parchment paper on work surface and gently dust over with flour. Roll dough to form a large round, about 12-inch. Using the parchment paper as aid, turn dough into the pan. Remove paper. Seal any cracks in dough, trim overhand to ½ inch. Fold overhang in, making double-thick sides. Pierce bottom of crust with folk.
5. Line crust with buttered foil side down, then fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake crust in the middle of the oven until sides ar set about 20 minutes. Remove foil and pie weights. Bake further for another 8-10 minutes until golden and bottom is set. Remove and cool crust in pan for later. Reduce oven to 350°F.
6. Let almond filling thaw at room temperature. Spread filling evenly in crust. Cut pears in slices and gently press pear slices in filling, overlapping them. (You can be creative at this point)
7. Bake tart in middle of oven until golden and when inserted with a toothpick into the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Cool tart in pan on rack. To serve push pan bottom up to release the tart. Place on serving plate and cut into wedges.
Printable Recipe

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