Almond Pear Tartlets Recipes

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-in. circle. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. , In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar and flour; add pears and toss to coat. Spoon over the crust to within 2 in. of edges. Fold up edges of crust over filling, leaving center uncovered. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. , Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Sprinkle with almonds; bake 5 minutes longer. Using the parchment, slide tart onto a wire rack to cool.

Steps:

• For the shells: Pulse together the granulated sugar, flour and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter and continue to pulse until mealy. Add the egg yolks (reserve the egg whites for the filling) and pulse until the dough comes together. Press the dough into a disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to overnight.
• To mold the shells, grease a muffin tin with nonstick spray. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/4-inch-thick, dusting with more flour as needed. Cut out 3-inch circles and press them into the muffin cups so that the dough comes all the way up the sides. (No worries if the dough tears; just patch it up with additional dough.) Freeze the shells for 15 minutes.
• For the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine the almond meal, granulated sugar, salt, and butter, either by blending it in the food processor (no need to clean it out after making the dough, you can just use it immediately for this step), or by stirring it together in a large bowl (I find it's easiest to get in there with my hands). Add the almond extract, egg and the reserved egg whites from the shells, and continue to blend/stir until smooth and combined.
• Fill the frozen shells with the filling so that it comes up about 1/4-inch from the top. Bake until the tops and edges are lightly browned; begin checking for doneness at 30 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then use a small offset spatula or a knife to remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the glaze: If making the glaze with heavy cream, combine the powdered sugar, heavy cream and almond extract in a bowl until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar or liquid to thicken it up or thin it out so that you get the consistency of a thick glue.
• To make the glaze with the raspberries, place the raspberries in a fine-mesh sieve and give them a rinse. Place the sieve over a bowl and use a stiff rubber spatula or wooden spoon to smash them through the sieve into the bowl until you're just left with seeds in the sieve. Be sure to scrape the underside of the sieve to get the stuff that's sticking to it. (You should be left with about 2 tablespoons seedless puree. If it's a tiny bit more or a tiny bit less, that's fine.) Add the powdered sugar and almond extract and mix to make a thick glaze. If it's too thick, add a few drops of water to thin it out, and if it's too thin, add a few more spoonfuls of powdered sugar. It should be the consistency of a thick glue.
• Spread the glaze over the cooled tarts and decorate with sprinkles, almonds and anything else you'd like! These will keep for several days at room temperature or in the fridge.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a mixing bowl cream butter with sugar until fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in egg. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Mix in brandy and vanilla. Add almond and all-purpose flours. Mix until creamy. Cover and refrigerate. Place almond filling into tart shell, spread level. Cut poached pear halves crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Reshape pear halves and arrange 8 halves around the top of each tart, "spoke" fashion. Press pears lightly to fan out. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is well browned and filling is springy to the touch. Cool and serve at room temperature.
• Note: To poach pears, peel, core and halve pears, place in a pot with 1 3/4 cups white wine, 3/4 cup water, 4 ounces of sugar, 1 cinnamon stick, vanilla bean split, and 4 black pepper corns. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer, cook for 30 minutes or until pears are tender when pricked. Cool in liquid.
• In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and salt, cut in butter until it resembles small pebbles. With a mixer running add vanilla and slowly drizzle in water until dough comes together in a sticky mass. Roll into a ball, wrap and chill at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours before rolling. Roll shell to fit into a 9-inch tart pan. Set aside.;

Steps:

• For the pear filling: Heat the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Lay the pears around the pan and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top. Move the pears in the sweet butter sauce and cook until caramelized, tossing them around once halfway through, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the pear liqueur and torch with a lighter, or if using a gas stove, slightly dip the pan away from you towards the flame and flambe the pears, shaking the flame around. Set aside to cool slightly.
• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly flour a clean workspace. Combine the almond meal, flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the butter is well incorporated. Add the egg and pulse until the dough forms into a ball. Transfer the dough to the floured work surface and knead, and then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Cut the dough into 4 equal parts. Roll out each piece on a floured surface to a circle, about 9-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick. Set aside and do the same for the almond paste. Place each almond paste circles on top of a dough circle. Cut 4 circles, using the tarlet pan, that are slightly larger than the pan.
• For assembly: Mold the dough/paste circles into the tartlet pans, pinching the sides into the ridges. Layer the pears into the pans in a circular motion. Drizzle the sauce on top and bake for 30 minutes.
• Cool in the tartlet pans for about 5 minutes, and then push the tartlets out of the pan and cool on a cooling rack for up to 1 hour.

Steps:

• For pears:
• Bring 4 cups water, sugar, and lemon juice to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add pears. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until pears are very tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool pears in syrup. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• For crust:
• Blend powdered sugar, almonds, and salt in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Mix in egg yolk. Add flour. Using on/off turns, blend until dough comes together in clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
• For almond filling:
• Finely grind almonds and flour in processor. Mix in 7 tablespoons sugar, then butter, blending until smooth. Mix in egg. Transfer filling to medium bowl. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out chilled dough on floured sheet of parchment paper to 12-inch round, lifting and turning dough occasionally to free from paper. Using paper as aid, turn dough into 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom; peel off paper. Seal any cracks in dough. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in, making double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze crust 10 minutes.
• Line crust with buttered foil, buttered side down, then fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until sides are golden and bottom is set, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 10 minutes longer. Cool crust in pan on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Spread almond filling evenly in crust. Stem pears and cut each in half lengthwise; scoop out cores. Cut each half crosswise into thin slices. Gently press each pear half to fan slices but keep slices tightly overlapped. Slide spatula under pears and arrange atop filling like spokes of wheel with narrow ends in center.
• Bake tart until golden and tester inserted into center of filling comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool tart in pan on rack. Push pan bottom up, releasing tart from pan. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Cut tart into wedges; sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, pulse almonds, sugar, flour, and salt until finely ground. Add egg, vanilla, and nutmeg and process until combined.
• Lay 1 sheet phyllo on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, lightly brush with butter, and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon sugar. (Keep extra phyllo covered while you work.) Stack remaining 5 sheets phyllo on top, brushing each with butter and sprinkling with sugar (omit sugar on last layer). Trim stack into an 11-by-15-inch rectangle. Spread almond mixture evenly on stack, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange pears on top, overlapping slightly.
• Bake until edges are golden and fruit is tender, about 18 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let tart cool slightly on sheet on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Combine water and sugar in medium skillet. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add pear halves, cover and simmer 6 minutes. Turn pears over; simmer until just tender, about 6 minutes longer. Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to plate. If necessary, boil syrup until reduced to 3 tablespoons; reserve.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line large baking sheet with foil. Roll out pastry on floured surface to 17 x 11-inch rectangle (scant 1/8 inch thick). Cut into six 4 1/2 x 5 1/2-inch rectangles (reserve remainder for another use). Cut off 1/2-inch-wide strip from each long side of rectangles, then cut off 1/2-inch-wide strip from each short side. Brush strips with egg glaze. Place 2 long strips, glazed side down, atop long edges of each rectangle. Place short strips, glazed side down, atop short edges; trim to fit.
• Transfer pastries to prepared baking sheet. Top each pastry with 2 slices almond paste. Thinly slice each pear half crosswise; fan slightly. Place 1 pear half in center of each pastry, arranging to fit.
• Bake tartlets until crusts are golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer to plates. Rewarm reserved syrup; brush over pears. Serve warm or at room temperature.