Pear Frangipane Tart

Elena Butuc

I could literally smell this pear tart the moment I saw the picture and the recipe on another blog. It gave me an elegant and flavourful feel of autumn, so there was no chance I could remain indifferent. To be honest, I think it's one of the best pear combinations and the frangipane will only enhance the aroma and the texture.

It's not a super quick recipe, but it's pretty easy - you only need to be organized and follow the instructions in the steps below. This pear frangipane tart can even be served at a festive meal as a cake - it will be outstanding and remarkably tasty.

Don't be scared of frangipane, it's a new thing even for me and I will certainly use it in other recipes. It's a lot easier to prepare than vanilla cream, but you will need almond flour - you can buy it and grind it by yourself with a coffee grinder. You can also use other nut flours. Yes, almond flour is the perfect choice here, but it's not irreplaceable, you can grind any nuts/peanuts you have and it will still be good.

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Ingredients

Metric US

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Pears

2 pieces

I recommend using hard, firm pears

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Butter

250 g

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White flour

200 g

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Almond flour

150 g

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Powdered sugar

250 g

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Sugar

50 g

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Egg

3 pieces

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Lemon

1 piece

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Cinnamon sticks

1 piece

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Star anise

2 pieces

Step by step

The first step is marinating the pears in a flavoured syrup - at least 2-3 hours before preparing the tart:

-In a small pot mix together 100 ml water, 50g sugar, the juice from one lemon, a cinnamon stick and 2 star anise pods.

-Place over heat, stir occasionally and boil the syrup for 5 minutes. Then let cool for half an hour.

- Peel and core the pears, cut into thin slices and place in a small bowl.

- Pour the warm syrup we prepared at step 1 over the pears and marinate for at least 2-3 hours.

The next step - we make the frangipane filling, I recommend starting it when you are ready to prepare the tart and the pears are marinated in advance.

So:

-In a bowl, whisk together 150g softened butter (room temperature) and 150g powdered sugar.

- Add 2 eggs, mix using a whisk.

- Now stir in 150g almond flour and 4-5 tbsp all-purpose flour (or 50g).

Optionally, you can add in 0.5 tbsp Amaretto liqueur, I didn't.

The frangipane filling is ready, notice there's no need to boil/cook anything, all the ingredients are raw and yet, the filling is so soft and smooth.

As soon as the filling is ready, start preparing the tart dough.

In a bowl, mix together 100g powdered sugar and 150g flour. Add 100g cold butter, diced. Stir the mixture until crumbly.

Stir in 1 egg and continue to knead with your hands until the flour has been incorporated completely.

You may need to add 1-2 tbsp cold water, if the dough is too dry, or a little more flour, if it's too soft and runny.

Normally, you should get a soft, nonsticky, play-doh like mixture that can be easily shaped.

Roll the dough out with the rolling pin, then carefully transfer to the tart pan. Use your fingers to push in dough and shape the tart - make sure you have 2-3cm left over the sides. This dough is tender, so be gentle.

I used here a 28cm in diameter tart pan, with a removable bottom, lined with parchment paper.

You can, of course, use a classic tart pan, without a removable bottom.

Spread the frangipane filling over the tart dough into an even layer, using a spoon.

Then arrange the savoury pear slices, gently press each one into the frangipane.

I always leave slightly higher borders at first, and, after I've filled the tart, I gently push down the dough and bring it back to the same level as the tart.

This way, my tart will have a perfect shape, I recommend using this tip for any tart recipe.