Pear Frangipane Tart

 PEAR FRANGIPANE TART Ingredients-

4 BUERRE BOSC (brown pears)
For the base-
   90 gms/3.18 oz Butter @ room temperature
   1/2 cup Castor sugar
   1 1/2 cup Flour
   2 Egg yolks   1/2 Vanilla bean or 2 drops of vanilla extract
   2 tbspn of iced water-only if required
For the filling-
160 gms/5.65 oz each of-
     Butter @ Room Temperature
     Castor sugar
     Almond meal
44 gms/1.56 oz Plain Flour
3 Eggs
 

Recipe-
Tart base-
1) Sift the flour and make a well in the centre.
2) Place all the ingredients, except water in the middle.
3) Work together the butter, eggs and sugar with the fingertips.
4) When blended, slowly add the flour in it and bring the dough together gently, adding iced-water if required.
5) Incoporate all the ingredients together until it binds to form a dough.
6) Do not over knead the dough.
7) Wrap the dough in a gladwrap/plasticwrap and chill for atleast 30 mins.
8) Roll the pastry evenly on a floured surface and ease into a greased tart ring, without streching the pastry.
9) Trim of the excess and chill again for 15 mins.
10) Prick the base with a fork and blind bake in a pre-heated oven @ 190oC for 10 mins.

 Frangipane filling-
1) Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
2) Add eggs one at a time slowly and mix thoroughly.
3) Fold in flour and almond meal mixture.
4) Pour the mixture in the prepared pastry case.

Preparing Pear-
Peal the pear, cut into half and deseed. Cut vertically or horizontally, as you like.
Place the pear in the prepared pastry tin. Squeeze the pear in the frangipane filling, leaving the top little exposed to caramalize. Bake @ 175oC for 25 mins, until the tart turns golden in color.

PS-
Buerre Bosc pears- These brown coloured pears have a long neck, cream-coloured rich tasting flesh and a slightly granular texture. It is often used for poaching and baking as it keeps its shape well.

Almond meal- Cannot find one?? Take the required amount of skinless Almond and wiz in the food processor.

Blind bake- Is a baking term when the tart/flan/shortcrust pastry with fillings needs to be half or fully baked. To blind bake, after resting the pastry in the tin, dock it and place a greaseproof paper on it with sum rice or dried beans to avoid the pastry from rising and bake.

Creaming butter and sugar- A baking term used when the butter and sugar is mixed together until it turns pale and fluffy.