Name: Pear and Frangipani tart
Prep time: 55 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 6-8 servings
Cuisine: Bake
Ingredients: 100 g butter; 200 g flour; 1 Tbs castor sugar; 90 ml water cold; 4 pears large, halved; 3 cup water; 1/2 cup sugar; 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped; 75 g butter at room temperature; 100 g castor sugar; 2 eggs; 100 g almonds blanched, ground; 80 g dark chocolate; lemon leaves; 2 eggs; 3 Tbs cornflour; 2 cup milk; 1 cup amarula

Recipe Disclaimer

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Ingredients (18)

100 g	butter
200 g	flour
1 Tbs	castor sugar
90 ml	water — cold
4	pears — large, halved
3 cup	water
1/2 cup	sugar
1	vanilla — pod, split, seeds scraped

FILLING:

75 g	butter — at room temperature
100 g	castor sugar
2	eggs
100 g	almonds — blanched, ground

Chocolate leaves:

80 g	dark chocolate
	lemon leaves

Amarula Custard:

2	eggs
3 Tbs	cornflour
2 cup	milk
1 cup	amarula

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Method:

For the pastry:

Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Pop the butter, flour and sugar into a food processor and blitz until the texture resembles bread crumbs.

Add the water whilst blitzing again until the pastry comes together and forms and a rough ball.

Dust a working surface with flour, turn out, bring together and roll into a ball.

Cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 min.

For the pears:

Scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod.

Bring the sugar, water and vanilla seeds up to the boil and pop the pears into a sauce pan, cover and simmer for 12 minutes until the pears are just tender. Remove from the poaching liquid and set aside to cool.

(At this point, if you want to go the extra mile, you can reduce the vanilla and sugar water until it becomes a thick syrup to glaze the pears.)

Roll the pastry to fit into a loose bottomed tart tin in the shape of your choice.

Grease the tin and press the pastry into the tin so that the edges overlap slightly.

Prick the pastry and blind bake for 1o minutes, then remove covering and bake for a further 8 minutes until pastry is beginning to lightly brown on the edges.

Set aside to cool.

For the frangipane filling:

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time until well combined.

Add the blitzed almonds and flour and fold through. Spread evenly through the bottom of the tart case and top with the cooled pears.

Baste pears with a little sugar syrup. Baked for 25-30 minutes, until set and starting to brown.

Remove and set aside to cool.

To make the chocolate leaves:

Simply melt the chocolate and paint a thick layer of chocolate on the back of each leaf.

Allow to set on a plate, leaf-side down.

Once set, carefully peal off the chocolate and set aside until needed

To make the custard:

Mix together the milk, flour and eggs in a heavy-based saucepan and whisk over medium heat until thickened (enough to coat the back of a spoon), add the Amarula and continue whisking until thickened.

Serve generous slices of the tart with spoonfuls of custard and decorate with chocolate leaves.

Recipe reprinted with permission of Undomestikated. To see more recipes, click here.