Pear Frangipane Tart
This Pear Frangipane Tart is a French classic for autumn pears: a buttery pate sucree tart crust filled with Frangipane filling and Bosc pears soaked in brandy.
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ lemon zest
- 1 tbsp dark rum
Instructions
- You can mix the Frangipane by hand easily, or with an electric/hand mixer. Combine butter and sugar and beat until creamy.
- Lower speed, and add almond flour, followed by one egg, followed by almond flour, one egg, and one last round of almond flour and a one egg, making sure to incorporate every time.
- Add additional flour and then add vanilla, lemon zest,and rum (dark preferably). Once combined, do not over mix.
- Assembling the Tart: Take 3-4 of the best pears and pat them dry of the excess soaking liquid. Slice each in half and carefully remove core without altering the shape. Slice horizontally across each pear and gently fan them out just a tad to lengthen (I made the mistake of doing this once the pears were on the Frangipane and they simply sunk a bit.)
- Inside the cooled tart shell, spoon in the Frangipane Cream and level off. Take the halved sliced pears and carefully lay them down in whatever formation suits you best. I did a nice five-pointed star and added a little piece of pear in the center, plus lines of flaked almonds on either side of each pear. Looking back, I would have liked to add in more pear, since some of the tart slices are pear-less (not that there is anything in the world wrong with Frangipane Tart...have you been reading my posts?)
- Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes, until the Frangipane is a deep golden brown, and the Frangipane around the pears does not look underdone. The sides will come away a bit as well. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, before removing the sides of the tart pan. Dust with confectioners sugar if desired for additional snowflake effect.
