Pear Almond Tart With Almond Pate Sucree Food

ALMOND PEAR TART

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-in. circle. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. , In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar and flour; add pears and toss to coat. Spoon over the crust to within 2 in. of edges. Fold up edges of crust over filling, leaving center uncovered. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. , Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Sprinkle with almonds; bake 5 minutes longer. Using the parchment, slide tart onto a wire rack to cool.

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 & ALMOND TART WITH ALMOND PATE SUCREE

Steps:

• Prepare crust: Finely grind the almonds by processing about 45 seconds in the work bowl of a food processor fit with the chopping blade. Add the other dry ingredients and process 30 seconds With machine running on dough speed, add yolks one at a time and process until incorporated. Stop machine & add the ice water, zest and vanilla. Pulse 3 to 4 times until combined. Form dough into 2 flat disks. Wrap in plastic & chill at least 30 minutes or until ready to use. If the dough tears as you roll it, just pat it into place in the tart pan. You can freeze the 2nd disk for later use. Before proceeding with the filling, spray the bottom and sides of an 11 inch tart pan with Pam and fit the crust into the pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling. To make filling & assemble tart: Position rack in lower third of the oven & preheat to 375. Blend almond paste and sugar in processor until well combined. Add 1/4 C flour and the 3 T butter (room temp). Process until you have a thick paste. Add eggs & vanilla and and process until smooth. Spread filling into prepared crust. Cover and chill while preparing pears. Peel pears. Cut each in half lenthwise and core. Slice crosswise and place slices longwise with ends touching around outer edge of pan forming a large circle along the circumfrance of the pan. Continue with another circle inside the first making sure slices are close together, even slightly overlapping. You can arrange the slices any way you see fit as long as the filling is mostly covered and you have a good amount of pear slices on top. It's OK to have a few small gaps. Melt 1 T butter and brush over pears. Bake tart until pears are tender and crust is brown, about 50 minutes. Cool 30 minutes. Remove from pan and serve warm or at room temp. Tart can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Let it stand at room temp before serving. Top with whipped cream (or ginger whipped cream) if desired. Great with coffee.

ALMOND-PEAR TART

Steps:

• Unfold piecrusts; stack on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 12 inch circle. Fit into a 10 inch pan with removable bottome, trim excess pastry.
• Beat 4 tablespoons butter, almond paste, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoons brandy, 1/3 cup flour and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with a mixer until blended, spread in crust.
• Toss together 2 tablespoons sugar and pears, arrange in cicles, overlapping slices, on top of filling.
• Cook preserves in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Pour through a fine wire mesh strainer, discarding solids. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter, remaining 2 tablespoons brandy, and cream, drizzle over pears.
• Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and remaining 2 tablespoons flour, cut in remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with a fork until blended. Sprinkle over pears.
• Bake at 400 on bottom rack for about 40 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Garnish if desired.