Pear and Almond Tart

You can’t beat a good tart!

This week I thought I’d share my recipe for a pear and almond tart, which is super easy and will always go down a treat. I have been making this tart since I learnt the recipe back at college in 2014 but I haven’t made it for quite a while until recently at work when I was asked to make one at work and after it sold very well, I thought I’d share my recipe for you.

It’s a super simple recipe, all in all and best of all, it takes next to no time. This tart can be made in advance – starting with the dough; this can be made a day ahead of when you intend on using it. The filling is best made on the day but once baked, it can be wrapped in clingfilm and stored in the freezer for up to three months.

The tart starts with a flaky shortcrust pastry, which is blind baked and then filled with a super simple and extremely almondy flavoured fringipane, topped with freshly sliced pears – baked to perfection, then glazed generously with apricot glaze and lightly toasted almonds sprinkled around the edge of tart. Its packed full of almond flavour but not overpowered as the pear really helps to add some nice flavour and texture.

If you’re looking to try something similar to a Bakewell tart but a little different – this is the recipe for you!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Pastry:

375g plain flour.

Pinch of salt.

225g butter, chilled.

1 egg.

90g granulated sugar.

 

Frangipane filling:

150g butter, room temperature.

150g granulated sugar.

150 ground almonds.

20g plain flour.

2 eggs.

1.5 tsp almond extract (optional).

 

Topping:

2-3 fresh pears, peeled and sliced.

Apricot glaze (just a small amount).

Flaked almonds, lightly toasted.

 

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating your oven and getting any equipment you may need ready, such as a food processor and spatula.

To start on this tart, you’ll want to make the pastry – as this takes the longest.

Into a food processor place the plain flour, salt and butter. Pulse everything together until combined, you’re looking for something between a breadcrumb and sandy consistency and a colour change (due to the butter being incorporated).

In a small bowl, place the egg and sugar and whisk together until fully combined. Then add this into your dry ingredients and pulse until a dough starts to form, try your best not to overmix the dough at this point, otherwise it will be tough textured.

Once you have a dough, give it a brief knead on a lightly floured surface and bring it into a smooth ball. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for around 60 minutes or so. This is to allow the gluten time to relax.

After about an hour, you can take the dough from the fridge and lightly flour your work surface. Place the dough on top of the flour and roll it out until you reach the thickness of a pound coin.

Take your dough and roll it back over the rolling pin, then drape over the top of the tin and press it down into the ridges of the tin, then use your rolling pin over the top to remove the excess or you can do this equally as easy with a small sharp knife.

Dock the base of your tart with a fork, this will stop the base from rising while its blind baking in the oven.

Then take a large piece of parchment paper and scrunch it up, then undo it and place it into the unbaked tart case. Fill the centre with rice or baking beans and then bake for 15 minutes with the baking beans/rice in the centre, then remove them and bake for a further 10-15 minutes (or until the case is lightly coloured around the edges.

Once your pastry case has had its blind bake, allow to cool – in this time, its the ideal time to make the frangipane filling.

Into a bowl place butter, granulate sugar, ground almonds, flour, eggs and almond extract. Mix everything together until you have a well combined mixture – it will compare to a baker better but it won’t be smooth due to the ground almonds in the mix. Set aside until needed later on.

Now you can prepare the pears. Peel the skin off of the pears and cut them into 1/8ths, this is the ideal size for a 9 inch tart. You’ll want to remove the core by cutting it out as you’re chopping and slicing the pears. Make sure you’re using pears that are ripe and juicy, not firm and underripe.

Onto a lined baking tray, scatter a generous amount of flaked almonds and bake in the oven for 4-5 minutes, just until the almonds have lightly coloured.

At this point you should have a blind baked pastry case, frangipane filling, sliced pears and lightly toasted almonds.

Fill the pastry case with the frangipane and spread it out until you have a consistent layer, then as equally as possible, place the slices of pears. Once you have enough pears on there, it should look a little similar to a flower.

Bake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until riser, well coloured and when a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean.

After awhile, the tart should be baked. Allow to cool down fully before you finish the tart off.

To start the finishing process, take a small amount of apricot glaze (around 60-80g) and heat in the microwave until runnier in consistency. Take a pastry brush and generously glaze the top of the tart – this will make the tart look more appealing by adding a sheen and acts as a preservative.

Then you can take the toasted flaked almonds, and sprinkle them around the edge of the tart – do this while the glaze is still tacky, it will act as a glue.

There you go! Thats how I make a pear and almond tart – easy right?

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.