Caramelized Pear Tarts With Cardamom Cream Food

PEAR FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until big enough to line an 18 x 28cm tart tin or a 23cm round tart tin. Carefully lift the pastry into the tin, leaving any extra hanging over the sides. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, sit the tin on a baking sheet and chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Put in the oven and bake blind for 15 mins. Remove the beans and paper, and bake for a further 10 mins until the pastry is biscuity. Decrease the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3, and trim the pastry edges.
• To make the cardamom frangipane, beat all the ingredients together with an electric whisk. Dollop into the tin and spread evenly to fill. Peel, halve and core the pears - scoop out the core with a melon baller, if you have one. Brush with a little lemon juice. Arrange the pears in the tin, pushing them a little into the frangipane. Scatter with a few more flaked almonds and bake for 50 mins until the filling is risen, golden and firm to the touch. Serve warm or cold, drizzled with a little honey.

CARAMELIZED PEAR TART

Steps:

• In a sauté pan on medium, melt unsalted butter; stir in 2 Tablespoons of the sugar.
• Simmer, stirring occasionally, until butter and sugar begin to turn golden brown and caramelize.
• Add pear slices and cook slowly over low heat to tenderize and caramelize, stirring gently occasionally. Watch carefully to prevent burning.
• Arrange caramelized pears in short crust pie shell.
• Mix together eggs with the remaining sugar, cream, ground almonds and pear brandy, if using.
• Pour mixture over pears.
• Preheat oven to 410 degrees Fahrenheit (205 degree Celsius) .
• Bake for about 25 minutes.
• Rest for three to five minutes before serving.
• Serve with rich custard or vanilla ice cream.

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.

SCANDINAVIAN PEAR TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Coat a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray.
• Beat sugar and butter together in a small bowl until crumbly. Beat in flour and almonds. Press over the bottom and up the sides of the prepared tart pan.
• Beat cream cheese in another small bowl until smooth. Beat in sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Spread over the crust. Arrange pear slices over the cream cheese layer.
• Combine sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the pears.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking until filling is set and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 160 degrees F (71 degrees C), 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool tart on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing.

HAZELNUT, PEAR AND CARDAMOM TART

Steps:

• Prepare the Shortcut Pie Crust through Step 3.
• When ready to make the pie, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet until evenly browned and skins are loosened, 25 to 30 minutes. While they are still warm, rub them together in a dish towel to remove the skins. Cool the skinned hazelnuts, and then blitz them to a fine meal with the flour in the food processor. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
• Crush the cardamom pods and retrieve the seeds, discarding the pods, then crush the seeds to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle.
• In a food processor, cream the butter, granulated sugar and crushed cardamom until pale and fluffy. With the machine running, add eggs one at a time, emulsifying each one fully before adding the next, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer to the bowl with the hazelnut meal and stir to combine. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.
• While the frangipane chills, shape and bake the crust: Working over an 11-inch fluted tart pan, prepare the Shortcut Pie Crust through Step 4, then chill, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. (This can be done ahead.)
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chilled crust until just-cooked but not browned, about 15 minutes. (The crust will continue to cook while the tart bakes, so expect it to darken in color when it bakes the second time.) Cool completely.
• Scoop the hazelnut frangipane into the crust. (Don't try to spread it; it will distribute itself evenly as it cooks.) Nestle the pears into the frangipane, tucking some underneath the frangipane and leaving others on top.
• Bake on a baking sheet until the frangipane is fully set in the center and the crust is golden brown, 75 to 90 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely, then remove from the pan and serve with crème fraîche.