Almond Pear Pie Food

ALMOND-PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie, using 9-inch glass pie plate. Shape almond paste into a disk. On lightly floured surface, roll or pat into 8-inch circle. Place in bottom of pie crust.
• In large bowl, mix pears, 2 tablespoons sugar, the flour, apple pie spice and lemon juice; mix well. Spoon over almond paste in crust. Place top crust over pears. Seal edges and flute. Cut slits in crust to vent steam. Brush top crust with egg. Sprinkle with almonds and 1 teaspoon sugar.
• Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until pears are tender and crust is deep golden brown. Cool at least 1 hour before serving.

ALMOND-TOPPED PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Combine the cornstarch, ginger and salt in a large bowl.
• Add the corn syrup, melted butter, lemon juice and lemon rind, stirring until smooth.
• Add the pears and toss until well coated with the corn syrup mixture. Arrange the mixture into the unbaked pie shell.
• Prepare the Almond Topping: Combine the flour, brown sugar, and ginger in a bowl. Cut in the butter, using a pastry blender, until crumbly. Stir in the almonds. Sprinkle over the pears.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 60 minutes or until the topping and crust are golden brown. (Ovens vary greatly, so use your best judgement on total baking time.).
• Cool on a wire rack.

ALMOND, PEAR AND CHERRY POCKET PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment.
• Lightly flour your work surface. Unfold 1 puff pastry sheet at a time and roll each into a 10 by 15-inch rectangle. Using a ruler, cut each into 2 (5 by 15-inch) rectangles, then cut each rectangle into 5 (5 by 3-inch) rectangles. Transfer the 20 rectangles on to the baking sheet and chill in the fridge until cold.
• Peel, halve and core the pears, and then cut them into 1/4-inch thick slices. Toss them with the almonds, cherries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and almond extract.
• Remove the rectangles from the fridge, place 5 of them on a new baking sheet and evenly spoon half the fruit mixture onto them, leaving a little bit of a border all around. Beat the egg and lightly brush the borders. Lay 5 more rectangles of dough over the filling. Use a fork to press them gently sealed. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Brush the tops with the beaten egg. Cut 3 vents, about 1/2-inch long, in the top of each pie. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake, rotating once, until the crust is golden and you see the juices bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the pies on a cooling rack at least 20 minutes before serving.

APPLE ALMOND PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Press 1 pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan.
• Toss apples, almonds, white sugar, brown sugar, and flour together in a bowl until apples and almonds are completely coated.
• Mix honey, egg yolk, water, and almond extract together in a microwave-safe dish.
• Microwave honey mixture, stirring every 15 seconds, until mixture is melted and smooth, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour honey mixture over apple mixture and toss to coat. Transfer apple mixture to the prepared pie crust; sprinkle filling with cinnamon. Top pie with the remaining pie crust and pinch edges together to seal.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust is lightly browned, 45 to 50 minutes.

ALMOND PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.
• Grease and flour a 9-inch pie plate.
• In a small bowl, combine the almonds, baking powder, flour, and graham cracker crumbs.
• In another small bowl, mix the butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar.
• Stir the almond mixture into the butter and sugar.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Pour the mixture into the pie plate and bake for 25-30 minutes.
• While the pie is baking, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the 1/2 cup cold water in a saucepan and simmer until the syrup is reduced to 1/2 cup.
• Pour the syrup over the hot pie when the pie comes out of the oven.
• Sift the confectioners' sugar over the top.
• May be served with crème fraîche.

PEAR-CARDAMOM PIE WITH ALMOND CRUST

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Blend flour, marzipan and salt in processor until marzipan is finely ground. Add butter and shortening and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 3 tablespoons pear nectar and almond extract and blend in using on/off turns. Gradually blend in enough pear nectar by tablespoonfuls to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. (Dough can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
• Make filling:
• Grind brown sugar and vanilla bean in processor 1 minute. Add cornstarch and cardamom and process until vanilla bean is almost completely blended. Transfer to large bowl. Add pears and pear nectar; toss to coat.
• Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out 1 dough disk between sheets of floured parchment paper to 13-inch round. Peel off top sheet of parchment. Invert dough into 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Peel off top sheet of parchment. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Transfer filling to crust. Roll out second dough disk between sheets of floured parchment to 13-inch round. Drape dough over filling. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Press edges together to seal; fold under. Crimp edge decoratively.
• Gather scraps and reroll between sheets of floured parchment. Cut out leaf shapes using cookie cutter. Arrange atop pie. Brush top of crust (not edge) with glaze. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut several slits in top to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake pie 15 minutes. Cover crust edge with foil to prevent over-browning. Continue baking until crust browns and pears are almost tender when pierced with skewer, about 40 minutes. Cool pie on rack at least 1 1/2 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.