almond pear tart

Every May we have lunch with my parents' ex-commune hippie friends at their house in Bilpin. They have a bed and breakfast and lots of land covered in golden trees and a ride-on lawnmower now. So I make something warming and autumny.

Ingredients:

145g butter

2 cups plain flour

1/4 cup caster sugar

2 tbsp iced water

Poached pears:

3 cups water

1 ½ cups sugar

3 brown pears, peeled, halved and cored

Almond filling:

75g butter

½ cup caster sugar

1 egg

1 1/3 cups almond meal

2 tbsp plain flour

1 ½ tbsp brandy

Method:

1. Place the butter, flour and sugar in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a soft dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min. 

I find with Donna Hay's shortcrust that it takes a teeny bit more water than she says. But maybe that's because my food processor is a bit of a weakling. 

2. To make the poached pears, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until the water is dissolved, then simmer for 5 min. Add the pears and simmer for 15 min or until tender. Remove from water and allow to cool on absorbent paper. 

3. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Roll out the paper between sheets of non-stick backing paper to 3mm (1/2 inch) thick and line a 22cm (9in) tart ring. Another thing about Donna Hay's shortcrust is, although delicious, it is very short, which makes it an a-hole to roll out. Just a warning.

Trim the edge, line the pastry with non-stick baking paper and fill with baking weights or rice. I use dried peas because they aren't as messy as rice. And who wants to buy pastry weights.

Bake for 10-12 min, remove the weights and paper and bake for 10 min or until light golden. Cool.

(I forked it so it didn't bubble)

 4. To make the almond filling, place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until light and creamy. Beat in the egg, then fold in the almond meal, flour and brandy. Spread the filling over the pastry.

I didn't want to buy a bottle of brandy so I used 1 tbsp vanilla extract instead.

My almond filling didn't fill the pastry shell very high. It looks like a shallow pool, which makes me feel a bit sad.

Slice the pears, keeping the stem-ends intact, then arrange them over the filling. 

Bake the tart for 50 min or until golden. Serve at room temperature with (single or pouring) cream. Serves 6. 

Verdict: I was quite disappointed that it didn't look like it did in the picture, but I think that had something to do with the size of the tin I used. The almond filling is quite rich so you wouldn't want to pack the thing full, but I feel like it could have done with a bit more. Maybe that's the lack of brandy talking though. Or maybe it's because instead of being cut into 6 slices, it was cut into 17. The pastry was yummy, but a little overcooked, so keep an eye on it. It still looked the part though, with its 'rustic' edges, so I can't complain.