Caramel Pear Tart Food

PAM'S RUSTIC CARAMEL PEAR TART

Steps:

• 1. Defrost the puff pastry in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for 1 1/2 hr. Take out one sheet, unfold on a lightly floured or vegetable sprayed counter. Cut 1/2 - 3/4 inch strips from all four sides of the sheet. Moisten the edges of the large sheet and place the strips on the edges of the rectangle. These will puff up and form a thicker edge. Prick the main base all over with a fork to keep it from rising too much while baking. Transfer to a lightly oiled baking sheet and refrigerate for about 1 hour while making the filling.
• 2. Mix the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg with a hand mixer until smooth and well blended. Scrape the bowl a couple of times to make sure you have it all mixed. Set aside.
• 3. Peel, core and slice pears into about 1/4" slices. Sprinkle with lemon juice and set aside. Heat oven to 375 F with the rack in the middle of the oven.
• 4. Take the pastry out of the fridge and spread the cream cheese mixture over the inside of the rectangle, trying not to go over the edge strips. Lay the pear slices as close as possible together to cover most of the custard mixture, again,keeping them off the edge pastry strip.
• 5. Sprinkle the pears and pastry edges with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. (I sometimes use a little more straight cinnamon sprinkled on top) Bake at 375° F for 25 to 35 minutes or until the crust gets a nice golden brown and the pears are browned and tender.
• 6. Remove from the oven. Let cool for about 15 minutes. Microwave some of the caramel topping in a small bowl until semi-liquid. Drizzle the entire surface with a light coating of caramel. Then melt some of the white chocolate (about 3 to 4 oz) until spreadable, and either drizzle with a fork over the top, or place the warm chocolate in a small zipper bag, cut off a tiny tip of the bag and squeeze the chocolate over in a pretty pattern. Let cool or serve warm with ice cream if desired.
• 7. For the Variation: Spray an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Mix 3/4 cup each of crushed vanilla wafers and gingerbread cookies with 1/4 c sugar and 1/4 c melted butter. Place in prepared pan and press lightly. Using the same cream cheese custard mixture as above, spread the mixture over the crumb base. Chop pears into 3/4" chunks and distribute over the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle liberally with either cinnamon and sugar mixture, with sugar and freshly grated nutmeg, or with brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes or until the custard is set and the top is lightly brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Refrigerate before serving. Again, you can drizzle the top with melted white chocolate or thin powdered sugar icing.

VANILLA-SPICED CARAMEL AND PEAR TART

Steps:

• For crust:
• Roll out pastry to 12-inch square and trim off corners, forming slightly rounded crust. (If using all-butter puff pastry, roll out to 12-inch round.) Transfer pastry to 10-inch-diameter springform pan, pressing pastry firmly onto bottom and 1 to 1 1/2 inches up sides of pan. Freeze crust until firm, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep frozen.
• For pears:
• Melt butter in heavy large skillet over low heat. Add sugar and next 4 ingredients. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring until sugar melts and turns brown (color of peanut butter), about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add pears, rounded side down. Cook until pears are almost tender, turning and moving skillet around occasionally to ensure even cooking, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on ripeness of pears. Carefully turn pears over; continue to cook until pears are very tender, about 10 minutes longer. Remove skillet from heat; cool pears in skillet with spices (pears will release juice while cooling).
• For filling:
• Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Add cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. Increase heat to medium; cook until butter is golden (watch to avoid burning), 3 to 4 minutes. Remove vanilla bean and spices from butter; discard. Whisk sugar, egg, and coarse salt in medium bowl. Whisk in flour. Gradually whisk browned butter into egg mixture. DO AHEAD: Pears and filling can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover separately; let stand at room temperature. Whisk filling before using.
• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°F. Brush frozen crust with beaten egg white. Pour filling into crust; spread evenly over bottom of crust (filling will be very thin). Using slotted spatula, remove pears from skillet, allowing excess syrup to drain back into skillet; reserve syrup. Arrange pears, rounded side up, atop filling (about 9 around edge and 3 in center of pan).
• Bake tart until crust is deep golden and filling is set and brown at edges, about 1 hour. Run small knife around sides of pan to loosen tart. Release pan sides. Transfer tart to platter. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature to cool slightly until just warm.
• Just before serving, boil syrup in skillet until reduced to generous 1/3 cup, 1 to 2 minutes. Discard spices. Drizzle syrup over pears. Serve tart slightly warm.

PEAR TARTS WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the almond cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer or with a wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, beat in well, and add the Amaretto. Stir in the ground almonds and flour until evenly mixed. The mixture should be the consistency of a thick paste.
• To make the caramel sauce: In a small sauce pan, combine the brown sugar, butter and cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil vigorously for 2 minutes, remove from the heat. Cover and keep warm at the back of the stove.
• To make the tarts: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a 1/8 inch thickness and, using a plate or cardboard circle as a template, use a very sharp knife to cut four 7 inch circles. Spread a circle of almond cream in the center of each, leaving a 1inch border. Fan the sliced pears out from the center of each tart, completely covering the almond cream but still leaving the border. Beat the egg yolk lightly with a fork and brush the border of the pastry with it (try not to let any yolk dribble down onto the cut edges of the pastry, otherwise it will not rise as high). Bake the tarts for about 20 minutes, until the edges are golden and the pastry is baked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes Place a sprig of mint in the center of each tart and sprinkle it with a little confectioners sugar. Serve warm, drizzled with the warm caramel sauce.

CARAMEL PEAR PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine pears and lemon juice. In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add to pears; stir gently. Let stand for 15 minutes. , Pour into pastry shell. In a small bowl, combine the oats, flour and remaining sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over pears. Bake at 400° for 45 minutes., Meanwhile, in a saucepan over low heat, melt caramels with milk. Stir until smooth; add pecans. Drizzle over pie. Bake 8-10 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

SALTED CARAMEL PEAR PHYLLO TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. Brush 1 sheet fillo dough with melted butter, then gently press into bottom and sides of 9-inch tart pan, letting ends extend over edges of pan.
• Repeat with remaining fillo dough, brushing each layer with butter and arranging in pan in rotation so corners of dough do not overlap. Fold in edges of dough, slightly pinching sides to form crust.
• Arrange pear slices in decorative circles in prepared crust. Sprinkle top with sugar and cubes of butter.
• Bake 45 minutes until crust is deep golden brown and pear topping is cooked. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack; leave oven on.
• Meanwhile, in small saucepan over medium heat, heat sugar until dissolved. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, carefully swirling pan, until sugar begins to caramelize and turn amber in color. Remove from heat; stir in butter and salt until combined. Stir in heavy cream.
• Return saucepan to stovetop over medium heat; continue to cook sauce 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and smooth. Remove from heat.
• Carefully and quickly brush top of tart with caramel sauce (you may need to reheat sauce over medium heat if it becomes too thick). Be sure to brush both crust and pear topping (there may be some caramel sauce left over). Return tart to oven and bake 10 minutes until caramel is melted and just begins to bubble.
• Return tart to cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

CARAMELIZED UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR TART

Steps:

• Peel, halve, and core pears.
• In a 9- to 10-inch ovenproof non-stick skillet or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and stir in sugar (sugar will not be dissolved). Arrange pears, cut sides up, in skillet, with side parts at rim of skillet. Sprinkle pears with cinnamon and cook without stirring until sugar mixture forms a deep golden caramel. (This can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 25, depending on skillet and stove.) Cool pears completely in skillet.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into an 11-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and arrange over caramelized pears. Tuck edge around pears. Bake tart in middle of oven until pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Have ready a rimmed serving plate slightly larger than skillet. As soon as tart has finished baking, invert plate over skillet and, wearing oven mitts and keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together, invert tart onto plate. (This is a bit scary, but it works!)
• Serve tart at room temperature or chilled with whipped cream or ice cream.

PEAR CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• In a large non-stick skillet, melt butter and stir in sugar. As mixture begins to bubble, remove from heat and spread out pears. Return skillet to heat and cook over medium high until golden brown syrup bubbles up. This process will take about 30 minutes. Roll out crust to flatten folds and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Place crust over pears and press down around edges. Cut slits in crust and brush with egg. Bake for 30 minutes until crust is golden brown. Allow skillet to cool for 2 minutes. Loosen edges of crust with paring knife. Invert tart onto plate and cool.

CARAMEL PEAR TART

Steps:

• Crust:
• In food processor, combine flour and sugar; sprinkle with butter cubes.
• Pulse until fine crumbs. Drizzle in cream and process until dough clumps together.
• Press into a 10-inch (25 cm) tart pan with removable bottom. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chilled.
• Meanwhile, prepare filling and topping:.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, heat sugar and 1/3 cup (75 mL) water, stirring until dissolved.
• Bring to boil; boil gently until syrup is a deep caramel colour. Carefully add 3/4 cup (175 mL) cream; stir until smooth.
• Remove from heat and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Peel pears; cut in half lengthwise and remove stems and cores.
• Cut each half crosswise into thin slices, keeping shape intact.
• Place flat side down in tart shell, fanning slices out slightly.
• Set 1/4 cup (50 mL) caramel aside for topping.
• In a bowl, whisk egg with flour until smooth; whisk in remaining caramel until blended. Pour evenly over pears.
• Bake in bottom of oven for about 45 minutes until crust is golden and custard is set.
• Let cool until slightly warm.
• In a bowl, whip remaining cream; fold in reserved caramel.
• Serve slices of tart with a dollop of caramel cream.
• Rich and delicious!