This recipe sounds a lot more complicated that what it really is!
You’ll enjoy the warm, spicy notes of star aniseed and cinnamon that the pears are poached in. The frangipane filling adds that extra “cake-like” texture to the tart. The short crust pastry is flaky and crispy with just the right amount of bite to tie it all together.
Pear Frangipane tart
Warm and spicy gluten-free tart
Ingredients
Shortcrust pastry
- 225 g Gluten-free flour mix with xanthan gum
- 1/4 cup castor sugar
- 110 g chilled butter cubed
- 1 tsp cold water
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg yolk
Poached pears
- 1.5 L water
- 400 g white sugar
- 2 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise pod
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 strips lemon peel, no white
- 4 pears, peeled and cored
Frangipane filling
- 115 g soft butter
- 115 g sugar
- 115 g almond flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp Gluten-free flour mix
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
Pastry
- Preheat your oven to 200C.
- Roll out your shortcrust pastry and place it in the tart shell (lined with parchment paper. Cut off the edges. Prick with a fork and then place parchment over and rice and blind bake for 10min.
- Remove the rice and parchment paper and bake for another5 minutes
- Wash with egg white and dry. Set aside until ready to use. Once it is cooled and firmed up, you can wrap it and freeze or store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks until ready to use.
Poached pears
- Fill a deep saucepan with water.
- Add the sugar and on high heat dissolve the sugar. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Once slightly simmering, add the pears gently into the water and place a round disc of parchment over the pears. Simmer for 15-18 minutes until pears are soft when pricked with a fork but still hold their shape. Let them cool in the liquid until it has reached room temperature. Store in an airtight container with the liquid until ready to use. Alternatively, drain them on paper towels, remove the stem.
Frangipane Filling
- Cream together the butter and sugar and then add the almond flour, alternating with the eggs until mixed. Finally add the GF flour and the vanilla essence. Mix. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
To assemble
- Into your cooled shortcrust pastry shell, add the frangipane filling and smooth it out. Then carefully slice the pears and arrange in the pear shape on top of the filling. Do this all the way around the tart. (if doing individual tarts, one half pear per tart). Dust with cinnamon and sugar and place in the preheated oven at 180 -190 for 40-45 minutes for a large tart or 20-30 minutes for individual tarts. The franipane filling will go a deep brown and rise. Transfer to a rack to cool before serving.
serving
- Best served at room temperature. Will keep at room temperate for 2 days. Or store in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving. Not recommend heating as the filling will run. Serve with ice cream or cream
