Poached Pear Almond Tart

Name: Poached Pear Almond Tart
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: ▢ 5 small pears peeled and cored, leaving the stems intact; ▢ 1 quart water; ▢ ½ cup honey; ▢ 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar or 1 tbs vanilla extract; ▢ 1 cinnamon stick; ▢ 4-5 whole cloves; ▢ ½ lemon; ▢ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed/cut into pieces; ▢ 1 tablespoon oil vegetable or canola; ▢ 3 tablespoons water; ▢ 1 tablespoon sugar; ▢ &frac18; teaspoon salt; ▢ 5 oz. all-purpose flour 1 slightly rounded cup; ▢ 6 oz. almond paste; ▢ 2 teaspoons sugar; ▢ 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour; ▢ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed, at room temperature; ▢ 1 large egg at room temperature; ▢ 1 egg white at room temperature; ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest; ▢ &frac18; teaspoon ground cinnamon; ▢ 1 teaspoon Amaretto sub with kirschwasser or spiced rum; ▢ 3-4 drops almond extract optional; ▢ ¼ cup sliced almonds optional

by All that's Jas

8 servings

1 hr 30 min

This easy classic French tart made with a buttery pastry, almond cream filling, and poached pears yields an exquisite combination of flaky and creamy textures that will make you eat it down to the last crumb.

This elegant cake has the perfect combination of crisp and flaky crust, creamy almond filling, and tender pears. Your family will think it came from a fancy Parisian patisserie.

You can bring it to dinner parties, but it would also make an excellent dessert over the holiday season.

The almond filling is slightly different from the typical frangipane. Instead of almond meal, almond flour, or ground almonds, we use almond paste.

“Did you fall from a pear tree?” is a popular Bosnian idiom used to express disbelief without directly calling a person or their actions absurd. But there's absolutely nothing absurd about this pear almond tart, I promise!

The pastry dough is ridiculously easy! No rubbing butter into the flour, no rolling, no chilling the dough, no pie weights! It's like being in tart heaven!

An essential step in this recipe is to use a removable bottom tart pan. It will make it effortless to remove the pear almond tart from the tin and onto your serving platter. It also keeps the fluted edges nicely in place for a beautiful presentation.

Poached Pear Almond Tart

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Recipe details

Yield 8 servings
Time spent: Prep time: 30 Minutes Cook time: 1 Hours Total time: 1 hr 30 min

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Ingredients

For Poached Pears:

▢ 5 small pears peeled and cored, leaving the stems intact
▢ 1 quart water
▢ ½ cup honey
▢ 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar or 1 tbs vanilla extract
▢ 1 cinnamon stick
▢ 4-5 whole cloves
▢ ½ lemon

For Tart Shell

▢ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed/cut into pieces
▢ 1 tablespoon oil vegetable or canola
▢ 3 tablespoons water
▢ 1 tablespoon sugar
▢ &frac18; teaspoon salt
▢ 5 oz. all-purpose flour 1 slightly rounded cup

For Almond Cream Filling

▢ 6 oz. almond paste
▢ 2 teaspoons sugar
▢ 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
▢ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed, at room temperature
▢ 1 large egg at room temperature
▢ 1 egg white at room temperature
▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest
▢ &frac18; teaspoon ground cinnamon
▢ 1 teaspoon Amaretto sub with kirschwasser or spiced rum
▢ 3-4 drops almond extract optional
▢ ¼ cup sliced almonds optional

Instructions

Poach the pears

Heat the water and honey until honey is dissolved and the water is bubbly. Add lemon, vanilla sugar or extract, cinnamon, and cloves. Slide in the pears and cover with a lid, allowing some of the steam to escape.
Simmer on low, turning occasionally, until cooked through, 20-30 minutes, depending on the pears. Cool pears in syrup. This can be made two days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Make the tart shell

In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt.
Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges.
Remove the bowl from the oven using oven mittens (the bowl will be hot, and the mixture might sputter a bit), dump in the flour, and stir it in quickly until it comes together and forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Transfer the dough to a tart pan with a removable bottom and spread a bit with a spatula; reserve a small piece of dough, about a size of a raspberry, for patching any cracks.
Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your hand, and use your fingers or fork to press it up the sides of the tart mold.
Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until the dough is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bits of reserved dough to fill in and patch them. Let the shell cool before filling.

Make the almond filling

Beat the almond paste with the sugar and flour until smooth. The paste might be dry and hard to work with. Microwave it in 10 seconds intervals until soft and pliable.
Gradually beat in the butter until smooth. Add eggs, liquor, and almond extract if using, and mix until combined.

Assamble

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the pre-baked tart shell on a baking sheet. Carefully spread the almond filling over the shell. Arrange the pears on top without touching each other and slightly press them into the filling; sprinkle with sliced almonds (optional).
Bake the tart for about 45 minutes, or until the almond filling between the pears has browned.
Cool tart in pan on a rack before serving. Push pan bottom up, releasing tart from pan; dust with confectioner’s sugar or glaze as desired.

Tips

You can replace the almond paste with marzipan if you absolutely must (*see the difference in the post linked below), but since marzipan is already sweet, omit the sugar in the filling section of the recipe.
Use firm, just barely ripe pears whenever you are poaching, or they will become overcooked.
Be sure to drain the pears well. Use paper towels to pat them dry before placing them on the almond filling. You don't want them sitting in its juice.
If your pears are too large, you could cut the bottom portion (⅓ or so) after poaching. It only makes for a better presentation, though. You can keep them as is if you wish.

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Poached Pear Almond Tart

Poached Pear Almond Tart

Recipe details

Ingredients

For Poached Pears:

For Tart Shell

For Almond Cream Filling

Instructions

Poach the pears

Make the tart shell

Make the almond filling

Assamble

Tips

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Poached Pear Almond Tart

Poached Pear Almond Tart

Recipe details

Ingredients

For Poached Pears:

For Tart Shell

For Almond Cream Filling

Instructions

Poach the pears

Make the tart shell

Make the almond filling

Assamble

Tips

Popular Recipe Book

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