Pear and almond tart

Pears in syrup baked in a delicious almond filling and nestled in a crisp buttery pastry shell – a wonderful pear and almond tart! The almond filling, known as frangipane, may already be familiar to you from the raspberry Bakewell tart. As usual, the pastry base is blind-baked first, but this time we use pears preserved in syrup (or canned pears or homemade bottled pears). When autumn arrives and there are pears waiting to be used, this tart is the perfect choice.

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 200 g plain flour
• 90 g cold butter, diced
• 30 g lard*, cold and diced
• 60 g icing sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2–3 tablespoons cold water

Sift the flour into a bowl, add the butter and lard and cut them into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar, salt and water and quickly knead into a smooth dough. You can also prepare the dough in a food processor. Shape into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour.

Grease and flour a 25 cm tart tin, shaking out any excess flour. Roll out the chilled dough to about 3 mm thick and line the tart tin. Chill again for 30 minutes. Lightly dust the pastry with flour, line it with baking paper and fill with baking beans, rice or ceramic baking weights.

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Reduce the temperature to 200°C and bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and paper, lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 5–8 minutes.

Ingredients for the almond filling:

• 200 g ground almonds
• 125 g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 125 g butter, cubed and at room temperature
• ½ tablespoon plain flour
• 2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur or ½ teaspoon almond extract

Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth and fairly thick.

Additionally:

• 3–4 pears in syrup (homemade or canned)

Spread the almond filling evenly over the partially baked tart shell while it is still warm. Arrange the pears on top of the filling. Bake at 180°C for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve on its own or with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon.

The tart keeps well at room temperature.

*Lard makes the pastry extra crumbly, but it can be replaced with additional butter.

Enjoy!