Red Wine-Poached Pear Tart
 
Makes 1 (14x4-inch) tart
Ingredients
  • Almond Crust (recipe follows)
  • 3 cups (720 grams) dry red wine, such as Zinfandel
  • ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 whole star anise (2 grams)
  • 3 small Bartlett or D’Anjou pears (540 grams), peeled, halved, and cored (stems left intact)
  • Almond Cream (recipe follows)
  • Garnish: toasted sliced almonds, confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Remove Almond Crust from freezer. Peel off 1 sheet of parchment paper. Place dough, parchment side up, over a 14x4-inch removable-bottom tart pan; carefully peel off remaining parchment. Gently press dough into bottom and up sides of pan. (If dough cracks, press it back together.) Top with a piece of parchment, letting ends extend over edges of pan. Add pie weights.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove paper and weights. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Lower oven temperature to 325°F.
  4. In a medium saucepan, combine wine, granulated sugar, and star anise. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add pears to pan; cover and simmer until pears are tender, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove pears from pan, and let cool completely before using.
  5. Spread chilled Almond Cream into bottom of cooled tart shell. Arrange cooled poached pears over almond cream.
  6. Bake until center is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting. Garnish with almonds and confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
Recipe by Bake from Scratch at https://bakefromscratch.com/red-wine-poached-pear-tart/