I know that I have recently posted quite a few tart recipes, but this
is because I love the fact that they can be prepared beforehand and served up
when required. I am equally fond of both sweet and savoury tarts and find that
using basic cooking skills and techniques; they can be easily adapted to
include a range of ingredients that you may have hanging around in the fridge or
at the back of the kitchen cupboard.
This tart is really tasty and looks so elegant – I was delighted with how it turned out. Despite being pre-soaked with the pear liqueur, they retain some of their crunch, which adds a pleasing contrast to the soft creaminess of the tart as whole. For this reason, it is important that you use the hard and not the soft type of amaretti.
This tart is really tasty and looks so elegant – I was delighted with how it turned out. Despite being pre-soaked with the pear liqueur, they retain some of their crunch, which adds a pleasing contrast to the soft creaminess of the tart as whole. For this reason, it is important that you use the hard and not the soft type of amaretti.
I have not sweetened the custard as the pears were poached in a sugar
syrup and I felt that this added enough sweetness. At a very fundamental level,
I wanted the focus of this tart to be on the pears, and everything else to
complement and not distract from their wonderful taste. It also occurred to me
that a few hard gingernut biscuits might also work very well in place of the amaretti.
Ingredients:
Pastry:175g plain flour
50g icing sugar
100g butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
1 tblsp cold water
To poach the pears:
3 pears, peeled, halved and cored
75g caster sugar
150ml water
Filling:
75g amaretti biscuits (the hard type)
2 tblsp Poires William
175ml double cream
2 large eggs
A little icing sugar for dusting the finished tart
Method:
Make pastry:1. Sieve the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. And the diced butter and using your fingertips, rub into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and water and mix using a fork until everything comes together. Turn out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly to form into a ball. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.
To blind-bake the pastry:
4. Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured work-surface. Use to line
a 20cm round x 4cm high tart tin with removable base. Prick the pastry several
times with a fork. Place some non-stick baking parchment on the pastry and then
fill with baking beans. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes,
removing the parchment and the baking beans for the final five minutes until
the pastry is cooked and a light golden brown colour.
5. Remove from the oven and set aside.
To poach the pears:
6. Place the pears in a small saucepan with the water and sugar. Bring up to
the boil and then reduce heat and simmer gently until the pears are just
poached – this should take 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool a
little.
To finish the tart:
7. Place the amaretti in a bowl and sprinkle over the Poires William.
Separately whisk together the cream and eggs and pour on top of the soaking
amaretti.
8. Drain the pears and arrange neatly, cut-side down on the base of the tart
case. Gently pour over the amaretti custard filling and bake in the pre-heated
oven for approximately 45 minutes until firm and set.
9. Remove from oven when cooked and allow to cool still slightly warm,
dusted with a little icing sugar.
Serves 6-8.
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