Almond crust, almond cream, and a generous serving of red wine? Yes, please. With a centerpiece of wine-infused pears, this tart is almost too gorgeous to eat. Almost.
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
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- 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.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove paper and weights. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Lower oven temperature to 325°F.
- 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.
- Spread chilled Almond Cream into bottom of cooled tart shell. Arrange cooled poached pears over almond cream.
- Bake until center is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting. Garnish with almonds and confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
Almond Crust
Makes 1 (14x4-inch) crust
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (50 grams)
- 1 cup (100 grams) cake flour
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking powder
- ½ cup (57 grams) sliced almonds, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar with a mixer at medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add egg, beating well.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture, almonds, and salt to butter mixture, beating until well combined. (This is a very wet dough.)
- On a work surface, place a large sheet of parchment paper. Place dough in middle of parchment; top with a second sheet of parchment. Roll dough into a 16x6-inch rectangle. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
Almond Cream
Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients
- ½ cup (48 grams) almond flour
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon (62 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg yolk (19 grams)
- 2 teaspoons (6 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) almond extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat all ingredients at medium speed until pale in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before using.
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I made this over the weekend. Really excellent flavor!
Have a couple questions though….
After you bake the crust for 15 minutes, do you remove it from the tart pan to cool on the wire rack, and then fill with the almond custard & bake a second time? Or do you leave it in the tart pan the whole time? The directions don’t say, so I left it in the pan for the second bake. The result was a tart that won’t come out of the pan, even with a removable bottom.
That said, what do you recommend coating the tart pan with to prevent sticking? I’m always hesitant to use something like Pam, because it can make the crust too “buttery”.
Looking forward to making it second time. It was super delicious!
Hey Karen,
We bake in the tart pan the whole time. But if you’re looking to make sure your tart comes out cleanly, try using a removable bottom tart pan that has been properly buttered and floured (to help it be removed cleanly from the tart mold). We hope this helps! Happy baking!
I thought the tart had god flavor but the crust was a nightmare. I left it in the pan the whole time but when I went to serve it I lost half of the crust because it adheres to the bottom of the pan. I did use a pan with a removeable bottom. I ended up making the crust twice and even the second time was awful. Also, I couldn’t bear to throw out the poaching liquid so I reduced it to a syrup and drizzles it over the top which was really good.