Christmas Pear Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Beat butter, sugar and cinnamon until crumbly. Beat in flour and walnuts. Press onto bottom and up sides of a 9-in. fluted tart pan with a removable bottom coated with cooking spray., For filling, beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Spread into crust. Arrange pears over top. Mix cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over pears., Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°; bake until filling is set, 15-20 minutes. Cool 1 hour on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 12-inch round. Fit dough into a 9-inch removable bottom tart pan lifting into and pressing up sides. Refrigerate while you prepare almond cream (frangipane).
• In a food processor, pulse almonds and sugar until finely ground. Add butter, egg, flour, salt, and extract and process until well combined.
• Spread 1/4 cup jam over bottom of tart shell. Spread almond filling over; chill 15 minutes. Arrange pear slices on top, fanning them out. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and almond cream is puffed and set. Transfer to a wire rack and cool in the pan. Remove from pan. Melt remaining jam and brush over tart. Cool before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon together. Lay puff pastry sheet on a work surface brush with melted butter and sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar. Cut into 6 even pieces. Fan the pear slices over the puff pastry, using 1/2 a pear for each puff pastry square. Sprinkle tops of pear tarts with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake until pastry is golden and cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from tart from oven, sprinkle with cheese and bake until cheese melts, 5 minutes more.

Steps:

• To prepare the crust, in a medium bowl whisk together the whole-wheat pastry flour, all- purpose flour, granulated sugar and salt. Add the butter and using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until you get a pebbly, course texture. In a small bowl combine the buttermilk and ice water. Using a fork, gradually mix the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture. Pat the dough into a 4-inch round and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, and prepare the filling. Peel the pears, core them and cut into 1/4-inch slices. In a large bowl toss the pear slices with the lemon juice. Sprinkle in the cornstarch, brown sugar and cinnamon and toss until the pears are evenly coated. Set aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a large circle about nine inches in diameter. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and draping the dough over the rolling pin, transfer to the prepared baking sheet. If the dough breaks at all patch it up with your fingers.
• Arrange the pears in a mound in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch boarder. Fold the border over the filling. It will only cover the pears partially and does not need to be even.
• Bake the tart for 15 minutes, and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, keeping the tart in the oven all the while, and bake for another 40 minutes, until the pears are tender and the crust is golden brown.
• In a small bowl stir together the honey and boiling water to make a glaze. When the tart is done remove it from the oven and brush the honey glaze all over the top of the fruit and crust. Transfer to a plate to cool slightly. Cut into 6 wedges and serve warm or a room temperature.

Steps:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheated to 375 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the orange zest and lemon zest with the sugar and cloves until fine. With machine running, pour the orange and lemon juice through the feed tube. Process until fairly liquid. Scrape the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Add the pears and gently toss to coat. Place 1 piece of filo lengthwise on a baking sheet. Brush with melted butter. Top with a second sheet of filo and brush with butter. Place a third sheet of filo crosswise to cover half of the filo layers. Leave some of the dough hanging over each side. Brush with butter. Repeat, this time covering the other side of the layers. Place another sheet lengthwise and brush with butter. Repeat, but do not brush the last sheet with butter. Sprinkle the walnuts in a 8-inch round in the center of the dough. Spoon the pears over the nuts. Loosely fold the filo up and over the pears. The dough will not fully cover the filling, there will be a space in the center where the pears show through. There will be points of dough sticking up like a pocket-handkerchief. Bake for 25 to 27 minutes, or until the filo is golden and the pears are tender. Carefully slide the tart off the pan onto the serving plate. If necessary, gently push the tart with a flat spatula. Serve immediately.;

Steps:

• Place the currants in a small saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Allow them to boil for a minute and turn off the heat. Let them soak for about 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine flour, salt, and sugar, and cut in butter with a dough blender or 2 knives until it resembles a coarse meal. You can also use a food processor. Stir in egg yolks. Knead this mixture until smooth. This takes quite a bit of kneading (you might want to use 2 hands). Press the dough out on the bottom and sides of an 8 or 9-inch springform pan. Neatly finish the rim. In a large bowl, gently combine the pear slices with the lemon juice, spices, sugar, and currants. Carefully arrange the fruits in the crust. Dot with butter, sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Cool and serve.

Steps:

• To make the syrup, place all the ingredients in a pan with 150ml water, then bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 mins until the fruit is softened, then remove the vanilla pod and blend to a smooth purée with a hand-held blender. Strain through a sieve. Allow to cool.
• Extend the pastry by rolling out on a lightly floured surface, so it is big enough to cut out a 30cm circle. Lay the pastry circle on a baking tray. Mix all the filling ingredients together. Spoon the mincemeat filling into the centre of the pastry (no more than 10cm diameter), creating a dome shape. Brush the edges of the pastry with water and gather all together to create a 'bag' effect. Press the pastry lightly together to seal well, keeping it fairly loose.
• Lay a greased baking tray on top, then turn the two trays over. Remove the top tray, and lightly roll the 'bag' with a rolling pin to create a flat round pastry disc, about 18cm across. Brush the pastry with the egg white, then sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Score 3-4 lines with a sharp knife in the centre, then chill for 15-20 mins. The tart can be made ahead and chilled for up to 2 hrs. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown and crispy.
• Now finish it in style: Sit the tart on a plate and decorate with sprigs of holly sifted with icing sugar. Serve warm, in slices, with a little custard, cream or ice cream and the pear and raisin syrup.

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar, add egg and salt. When the mixture is reasonably amalgamated add the flour. The dough should need no water. The pastry can be mixed in a food processor, but you may have to add up to 1/4 cup additional flour.
• Chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Roll out the pastry and line a tart pan at least 10 inches in diameter. Line with foil and weight with dried beans or pastry weights. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the pastry is lightly colored, about 5 minutes longer.
• Meanwhile, peel, core and halve the pears, then slice them. This can be done longways or across, keeping the halves in shape. Sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent discoloring.
• Beat together the cream, egg yolks and sugar.
• Arrange the pear slices on the pastry. Long slices go in concentric circles; the sliced halves should be put on the pastry and spread out slightly so they are flattened but still the shape of the halves, with the pointed ends toward the center. Pour over the cream mixture and return to the oven. Close the door and turn the heat down to 375 degrees and bake until the cream is nearly firm, about 30 minutes. It tastes best when not quite set in the center. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Grease an 8-inch tart pan.
• Combine 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, butter, egg, sugar, water, and salt in a large bowl. Quickly knead into a smooth dough. Place in a container with a lid and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. The pastry needs to be firm enough to be rolled out.
• Roll out chilled pastry on a floured work surface and fit into the prepared tart pan. Shape an edge and prick the pastry several times with a fork. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Cover the pastry with parchment paper and fill with dry beans or pastry weights. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Leave the oven on.
• Meanwhile, roast hazelnuts in a dry skillet over low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and chop coarsely.
• Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Add cream and beat until well combined. Mix in egg and beat until batter is smooth. Spread onto the pastry. Arrange pear slices in an overlapping pattern on top of the cream and scatter hazelnuts on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until topping has set and is lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Fit puff pastry into a 10-inch square tart pan with removable sides.
• Place a pear half, cut-side down, onto a work surface. Place a chopstick above and below the pear half, so the pear is framed on the top and bottom. Thinly slice the pear half lengthwise, stopping when the knife hits the chopstick and leaving the bottom 1/4 inch of the pear intact. Repeat with the remaining pear halves.
• Place hasselbacked pears in a bowl; add white sugar and lemon juice and gently toss to coat. Let hasselbacked pears stand for 5 minutes.
• Mix cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl; spread over puff pastry. Arrange hasselbacked pears over cream cheese layer, cutting some of the halves into quarters if needed to fit them in. Slightly fan out each pear and drizzle any accumulated juices from the pear bowl over pears. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over tart.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust is puffed and lightly browned and juices are bubbling, about 35 minutes. Cool tart for 15 minutes before slicing.