Tarte aux Poires with Poached Pears and Almond Cream

A French pear tart can make you look considerably more organised than you are. Fan six pear halves over almond cream and suddenly dessert looks as though someone took measurements. The effect is particularly satisfying when the pears came from a tin and your greatest technical achievement was remembering to drain them. In the oven, the almond cream rises around the fruit, so each slice gets a crisp edge, a soft centre and a generous piece of pear.

Tarte aux poires simply means pear tart, which leaves French bakers plenty of room to disagree about what goes underneath the fruit. The best-known almond version, tarte Bourdaloue, takes its name from a street in Paris’s ninth arrondissement. In the nineteenth century, the name seems to have belonged first to an almond confection. The pear tart we recognise today came later, which makes it difficult to award one pastry chef credit for the whole thing.

In the Parisian version, poached pears sit on sweet pastry and almond cream. A Normandy-style pear tart, by contrast, can take its richness from eggs and cream, with a splash of Calvados if the bottle happens to be open. Elsewhere, you’ll find pears laid straight on puff pastry, sometimes with little more than butter and sugar. Chocolate offers another variation. A thin layer beneath the pears gives the tart the flavour of a pear Belle Hélène, with the bonus of a pastry shell.

The almond version depends on a pleasing difference in texture. The pastry should snap under a fork, while the pears should yield without collapsing. Consequently, firm Conference pears are a good choice for poaching. The filling here is crème d’amande, made with butter, sugar, eggs and ground almonds. In French pastry, frangipane generally adds pastry cream to that mixture, giving it a softer set.

Serve the tart barely warm with crème fraîche, whose tang cuts through the almond filling. Alternatively, add a handful of raspberries or a spoonful of unsweetened raspberry compote. For drinks, try a small glass of chilled Sauternes or a lightly sparkling pear cider. Meanwhile, a pot of Earl Grey brings a little citrus fragrance to the table and gives everyone an excuse to stay for another slice.

Pears and almonds contribute fibre, and almonds also supply unsaturated fats. Even so, the pastry and filling contain a fair amount of butter and sugar, so a modest slice makes a satisfying dessert. The recipe contains almonds, wheat, eggs and dairy. If you use tinned pears, choose halves in juice and pat them dry so the extra liquid stays out of the pastry.

Tarte aux Poires Recipe

Pear and almond tart · Serves 8 · One 23 cm loose-bottomed tart tin

• Pastry — 200 g plain flour, 100 g cold unsalted butter, 50 g icing sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 egg yolk and 1–2 tbsp cold water
• Pears — 3 firm Conference pears, 600 ml water, 100 g caster sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Almond cream — 100 g softened unsalted butter, 100 g caster sugar, 100 g ground almonds, 2 medium eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Optional glaze — 2 tbsp apricot jam and 1 tsp water

Rub the cold butter into the flour, icing sugar and salt until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Then stir in the yolk and just enough water to bring the dough together. Flatten into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel, halve and core the pears. Bring the water, sugar and lemon juice to a simmer, then add the halves. Simmer gently for 10–15 minutes, until a knife slides in with slight resistance. Drain, cool and pat dry.

Roll the pastry to about 3 mm thick and line the tin. Chill for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Line the pastry with baking paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5–7 minutes, until the base looks dry. Reduce the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).

Beat the softened butter and sugar until smooth. Next, mix in the eggs one at a time, followed by the ground almonds and vanilla. Spread the cream in the pastry case. Slice each pear half crossways, keeping the slices together, then fan the halves over the filling with the narrow ends pointing towards the centre.

Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the almond cream is golden and the centre feels set. If glazing, warm the jam with the water and brush it lightly over the pears. Finally, let the tart cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.