Continental Pear and Almond Tart

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Miruwin
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Joined: Tue 25 Dec, 2001 6:36 am

Continental Pear and Almond Tart

Post by Miruwin »

Here's one for the real cooks out there. It's an old one of mine and I haven't bothered to convert it to metric so good luck! (I have 2 sets of scales - 1 metric, 1 imperial)

Pie Case
Ingredients:
10oz plain flour
Salt (pinch)
5oz butter
1 tablespoon castor sugar
1 well beaten egg

Sift flour and salt
Rub in butter until it has the appearance of fine crumbs
Mix in sugar
Add enough cold water to make a firm dough.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill.
Take half the pastry and roll to 8 inch round
Carefully lift onto a greased tray
Take the rest of the pastry and form into 2 rolls about 1/2 inch thick
Twist the 2 rolls around each other
Brush with beaten egg and press down gently around the outside of the circular piece on the baking tray to form a case
Brush entire surface with beaten egg
Prick the base about 6-8 places over the entire surface of the base
Bake in a moderate to hot oven about 20 minuts until lightly golden

Filling - Almond Cream
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon brandy
3 tablespoons ground almond meal
1/3 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup of milk
pinch of salt
3oz evaporated milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons gelatine
1 tablespoon hot water
Almond Essence

Mix cornflour, sugar and salt together
Add evaporated and normal milk to saucepan
Add cornflour mixture and mix well
Stir constantly whilst bringing to very low simmer and cook until thick (do not stop stirring the whole time, this stuff can stick and burn badly)
Once thick, remove from heat
Seperate the white from the yolk and beat the yolk well then add to the milk mixture in the saucepan
Stir over a low heat for about 3 minutes
Remove from heat
Add the brandy, ground almonds and essence and stir through
Dissolve the gelatine in boiling water and stir into the almond cream mixture
Cool in refrigerator
Beat egg whites until stiff peak
Fold egg whites gently through the chilled almond cream mixture
Spoon into pastry shell and chill

Pear Topping
Ingredients:
Ripe Pears
Castor sugar
Brandy
Almond slivers
Angelica slivers

Peel and core the pears and cut into quarters lengthwise
Score the outside surface of the pears with a fork lengthwise
Soak in a sugar and brandy mixture overnight
Drain the pears and arrange attractively on the surface of the Tart
Sprinkle slivered almonds over the pears and surface of the tart
Arrange Angelica slivers decoratively over the tart

Leave in the refrigerator until required but best served the day it is made as pastry can become a little soggy if left too long.

I like to use the liquor that the pears were soaking in as a sort of drizzle when serving so bring the liquor to the boil and add more sugar and almond essence. Allow to boil until the liquid thickens slightly then cool.

Serve with whipped fresh cream - this is a beautiful recipe. There are a few places I'm not allowed to go unless I bring 1-2 of these tarts with me.
Miruwin

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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