Pear Almond Crisp Shot Food

PEAR-ALMOND CRISP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Halve the pears and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place the pear slices in a bowl, sprinkle with the brandy and sugar and gently stir with a wooden spoon to coat evenly. Set aside for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Toast the almonds on a cookie sheet for 7 to 10 minutes or until evenly toasted. Remove and cool. Finely chop the almonds by hand.
• In a mixing bowl combine the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix in the butter, working with your fingers until the mixture holds together and is crumbly. Stir in the chopped almonds and the crushed amaretti cookies. Set aside.
• Place the pears and their juice in a 12-inch round porcelain tart pan. Spread the almond mixture evenly over them. Bake for 1 hour or until the pears are bubbling and the topping is golden brown. To serve, scoop out the hot crisp into individual dessert bowls and pour 1/2 cup of chilled heavy cream over each portion.

PEAR AND ALMOND TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a mixing bowl cream butter with sugar until fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in egg. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Mix in brandy and vanilla. Add almond and all-purpose flours. Mix until creamy. Cover and refrigerate. Place almond filling into tart shell, spread level. Cut poached pear halves crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Reshape pear halves and arrange 8 halves around the top of each tart, "spoke" fashion. Press pears lightly to fan out. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is well browned and filling is springy to the touch. Cool and serve at room temperature.
• Note: To poach pears, peel, core and halve pears, place in a pot with 1 3/4 cups white wine, 3/4 cup water, 4 ounces of sugar, 1 cinnamon stick, vanilla bean split, and 4 black pepper corns. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer, cook for 30 minutes or until pears are tender when pricked. Cool in liquid.
• In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and salt, cut in butter until it resembles small pebbles. With a mixer running add vanilla and slowly drizzle in water until dough comes together in a sticky mass. Roll into a ball, wrap and chill at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours before rolling. Roll shell to fit into a 9-inch tart pan. Set aside.;

PEAR AND ALMOND CROSTATA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, flour, 1 egg and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer until well blended and smooth. Set aside.
• Divide each package of almond paste into 4 equal portions. On a floured work surface roll each portion into a 6-inch round, about 1/8-inch thick. Put 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into the center of each round. Spread the filling out in an even layer, about 1/2-inch from the edge of the round.
• Quarter each pear and remove the core. Cut each quarter into 5 slices. Fan out 5 of the pear slices on top of the filling in the center of 1 of the rounds. Gently fold the edge of the almond paste round over the edge of the filling. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets and repeat with the remaining almond rounds, filling and pears.
• Whisk together the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl until well blended. Using a pastry brush lightly brush each crostata with the egg wash and sprinkle each with the raw sugar.
• Put the baking sheets into the oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve each crostata on individual plates with a small scoop of ice cream and garnished with sliced almonds and mint.

PEAR CRISP WITH ALMONDS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• 2.Pears: Cut pears in half and then into thin slices. Put them in a large bowl and toss with the brown sugar, lemon juice and zest to blend, set aside.
• 3. Topping: Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add the butter and almonds and break them up with your fingers integrating the dry ingredients with the butter and nuts.
• 4. Grease the bottom and sides of a shallow square baking dish (8 square inches) with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Layer the pears in the dish and top evenly with the nut topping. Place the dish in the center of the oven and bake until the pears are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. The topping should be golden brown as well, about 40-45 minutes. Set aside to cool a few minutes before serving.