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French Pear Tart

French Pear Tart

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I was pretty excited, as I am sure the rest of the Tuesday with Dorie bakers were when they found out that Dorie would be our lovely hostess for this week’s challenge.  Dorie, is the queen of baking, in my humble opinion.  I was equally as excited when I found out that Dorie picked the French Pear Tart.  I have been dying to make this Pear Tart all season, and have not had a chance.    It would be the most impressive dessert to bring to a dinner party that we had to go to on Sunday.

French Pear Tart

The recipe calls for a simple tart crust filled with an almond pastry cream and then topped with pears – simple.  The tart dough is a classic French Sable otherwise known as a shortbread dough.  It is very simple to make especially if you use the food processor as I do.  As well you do not have to roll out this dough but rather mold it into your tart pan.  I did freeze it for a couple of hours before baking which caused it not to bubble or rise during baking.

The recipe called for the option of using canned pears, which evidently most pastry shops do, or we could poach our own.  I knew I had to poach my own and I knew that I had to use the cute little Seckel Pears I had previously seen at Bi-Rite market.  I wanted to add a little something extra so I threw some Cardamon pods in with the pears when they were simmering.  Poaching was so much easier then I thought it would be and I can only imagine all the creative things one can do with flavorings as well as color.

The pastry cream called for a bit of rum and I used a spiced Jamaican rum hoping it would compliment the Cardamon.  When putting the tart together I decided to leave the pears whole since they were so cute and I wanted everyone to enjoy the dynamic look I was hoping for.

The tart finished up nicely.  The crust was a bit heavy (per my food critic Lenny) but otherwise, the flavor combination and the freshly poached pears were heavenly.  I really enjoyed making this tart, as it was very easy, incredibly flavorful and the presentation will WOW your guests!

French Pear Tart

Thank you, Dorie, for a wonderful challenge.

Recipe:  French Pear Tart

Ingredients:

Pears

4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 medium-size firm but ripe Bosc pears, peeled (each about 7 ounces)

Crust

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Almond Filling

2/3 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
Powdered sugar (optional)

How To:

For pears:

Bring 4 cups water, sugar, and lemon juice to boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add pears. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until pears are very tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool pears in syrup. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For crust:

Blend powdered sugar, almonds, and salt in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Mix in egg yolk. Add flour. Using on/off turns, blend until dough comes together in clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

For almond filling:

Finely grind almonds and flour in processor. Mix in 7 tablespoons sugar, then butter, blending until smooth. Mix in egg. Transfer filling to a medium bowl. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

Position rack in center of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out chilled dough on floured sheet of parchment paper to 12-inch round, lifting and turning dough occasionally to free from paper. Using paper as aid, turn dough into a 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom (I used a rectangle shaped pan); peel off paper. Seal any cracks in dough. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in, making double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Freeze crust 10 minutes.

Line crust with buttered foil, buttered side down, then fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until sides are golden and the bottom is set, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 10 minutes longer. Cool crust in pan on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Spread almond filling evenly in crust. Stem pears and cut each in half lengthwise; scoop out cores. Cut each half crosswise into thin slices. Gently press each pear half to fan slices but keep slices tightly overlapped. Slide a spatula under pears and arrange atop filling like spokes of wheel with narrow ends in center.

Bake tart until golden and tester inserted into the center of filling comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool tart in pan on rack. Push pan bottom up, releasing tart from pan. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Cut tart into wedges; sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Serve.

Eat.

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Anna

Wednesday 28th of April 2021

If possible could you please give me the recipe in grams as your cup measurements are different to the Australian ones? This recipe looks fantastic !!

Denise Woodward

Friday 30th of April 2021

Hello Anna -

Thanks for reaching out. This is a very special recipe and so good. I have been remaking recipes and slowly converting to grams the past couple of months but have not gotten to this one yet and since pears will not be at the market for a bit I will not be able to properly convert, test, and send along before our autumn. In the meantime, I found this piece that may help you with converting in Australia. https://www.newideafood.com.au/grams-to-cups

Dessert Man

Tuesday 13th of December 2016

The link to the recipe is broken - can you repost? Looks like a fabulous recipe and would love to try.

Denise Woodward

Tuesday 13th of December 2016

Unfortunately that link was to Dorie Greenspan's site and it seems her link is broken. Since it is published in one of her books, I cannot feature the recipe on my site without her consent. I am sure if you reach out to her she would gladly give it to you.

dee johnson

Monday 4th of November 2013

I am looking for the Pear Tart recipe and cannot find it. I made it a couple of times before and loved it! Can you repost the link? Thank you -Dee

admin

Monday 4th of November 2013

Hi Dee! That is a classic recipe isn't it? Happy Monday.

marry

Wednesday 14th of September 2011

Hello, it's an excellent write-up, and great thought.

Jun Belen

Thursday 8th of September 2011

Oh my! Are pears in season now? Summer is indeed long gone. Sigh. But this tart is absolutely gorgeous. I've never made a pear tart with poached pears standing up like yours. This is certainly something I will have to try. Beautiful tart, Denise.