Pear Frangipane Tart
Crisp and buttery almond shortcrust pastry is filled with cake-like almond frangipane, topped with spiced pears and crunchy almonds.
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Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
Ingredients
Almond Crust
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ cup almond flour (see note)
- 10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 1 large egg, yolk and white separated
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Frangipane
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Pears
- 3 large Bosc pears, ripe but firm, not soft and mushy
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
Crust
- In a bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar, salt and almond flour. Add the butter, and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in until the butter is evenly distributed with pieces no bigger than peas, and the flour is moist and crumbly.If preferred, you can use your food processor instead of a pastry cutter.
- Add the egg yolk (reserving the egg white for later) and the vanilla. Use your hands to work the moisture into the dough crumbs, until evenly distributed and moist enough that the crumbs will stick together if you squeeze them in your hand.
- Line your tart pan with a circle of parchment paper on the bottom. Dump the crumbs into the pan, spread them out, then press them evenly and firmly against the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Freeze the crust for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Now place a piece of parchment paper inside the crust, and fill the paper with dried beans or pie weights. This is called "blind baking", and also prevents the crust from puffing up. By baking the crust like this, you'll only be partially baking it, and it will finish baking later with the filling.
- Set the tart pan on a baking sheet, and bake the crust for 20 minutes.
- Take the pan out of the oven, and remove the dried beans and the paper.
- In a small bowl, lightly beat the leftover egg white with a fork, then brush it over the hot crust. This will help to seal the crust, and keeps it crisp.
Frangipane
- With an electric mixer (stand or hand held), beat the softened butter with the sugar for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the eggs, almond extract and vanilla extract; the mixture will be lumpy.
- Add the almond flour, all purpose flour and salt. Beat for several minutes until thick and smooth.
Assembly
- Spread the frangipane into the warm crust.
- Peel the pears, cut them in half and cut out the core. Thinly slice the pears, leaving them intact at the narrow end. Fan the pear slices out on top of the frangipane.
- In a bowl, combine the 2 tbsp granulated sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom, and sprinkle the mixture over the pears.
- Sprinkle the sliced almonds around the pears.
Bake
- Bake the tart for about 45 minutes, until the almonds and crust are deep golden brown.
- Set on a cooling rack to cool for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, before removing the sides of the pan and cutting into slices.
Notes
If you don't have almond flour, you can use the same amount of whole almonds, finely ground with a food processor.
Store the leftover tart in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If refrigerated, let it come to room temp before serving.
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