Pear Hazelnut Dartois Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 140C/ conventional 160C/gas 3. Butter and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin. Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until fairly fine. Add the flour and mix briefly. Add the butter and pulse until it forms crumbs. Add the sugar and eggs and mix briefly. Peel, core and chop two of the pears. Stir the pears and chocolate lightly into the cake mixture.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Peel, core and slice the remaining pears and scatter over the top of the cake. Press down lightly and bake for 50-60 minutes, until firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on wire rack. Warm the jam and brush over the top. Serve warm or cold.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the hazelnuts in a food processor and whizz until finely ground. Add the flour, eggs, extra yolks, sugar, milk, cream and vanilla and whizz until you have a smooth batter.
• Halve, core and slice the pears (you can peel them first if you like, but I usually don't). Arrange the pear slices in a 26 x 33cm ceramic, cast iron or copper gratin dish, then pour in the batter. Bake for 30-35 mins, or until the batter is set in the centre, golden and slightly souffléd.
• For the topping, toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan (keep a close eye on them - they can go from toasted to burnt very quickly), then roughly chop them so you're left with a mixture of halved and more finely chopped nuts. Scatter over the clafoutis, then sieve a little icing sugar over the top. Leave to sit for 10-15 mins (the clafoutis will deflate a little). Serve warm with crème fraîche or pouring cream.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pulse hazelnuts with 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until finely ground, then add flour and pulse to combine.
• Beat together butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer at moderately high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in extracts. Reduce speed to low and mix in nut mixture until just combined.
• Spread frangipane filling evenly in tart shell. Peel, halve, and core pears, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, holding slices together to keep pear shape intact. Arrange pears decoratively on filling, fanning slices slightly. Bake until pears are golden and frangipane is puffed and golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Brush pears (not filling) with preserves and cool tart completely in pan on rack, then remove side of pan.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix flour, hazelnuts, brown sugar and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Shape into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight., Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust even with edge. Prick bottom of crust with a fork. Refrigerate while preparing filling., In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until blended. Beat in egg yolks and amaretto. Beat in hazelnuts and cocoa., With clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Fold a third of the egg whites into hazelnut mixture, then fold in remaining whites. Spread onto bottom of crust. Arrange pears over top., Bake on a lower oven rack 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Brush pears with warm honey. Cool on a wire rack. If desired, dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

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:

• Combine the hazelnuts with the oil, vinegar and a pinch of sea salt flakes. Slice each pear into six wedges.
• Heat a griddle pan over a high heat and griddle the pear wedges until slightly charred. Arrange three in a line on each plate. Tuck some watercress around the pears, then crumble over the goat's cheese. Dot over the hazelnut dressing.

Steps:

• Prepare the Shortcut Pie Crust through Step 3.
• When ready to make the pie, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet until evenly browned and skins are loosened, 25 to 30 minutes. While they are still warm, rub them together in a dish towel to remove the skins. Cool the skinned hazelnuts, and then blitz them to a fine meal with the flour in the food processor. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
• Crush the cardamom pods and retrieve the seeds, discarding the pods, then crush the seeds to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle.
• In a food processor, cream the butter, granulated sugar and crushed cardamom until pale and fluffy. With the machine running, add eggs one at a time, emulsifying each one fully before adding the next, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer to the bowl with the hazelnut meal and stir to combine. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.
• While the frangipane chills, shape and bake the crust: Working over an 11-inch fluted tart pan, prepare the Shortcut Pie Crust through Step 4, then chill, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. (This can be done ahead.)
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chilled crust until just-cooked but not browned, about 15 minutes. (The crust will continue to cook while the tart bakes, so expect it to darken in color when it bakes the second time.) Cool completely.
• Scoop the hazelnut frangipane into the crust. (Don't try to spread it; it will distribute itself evenly as it cooks.) Nestle the pears into the frangipane, tucking some underneath the frangipane and leaving others on top.
• Bake on a baking sheet until the frangipane is fully set in the center and the crust is golden brown, 75 to 90 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely, then remove from the pan and serve with crème fraîche.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform cake pan.
• Peel, core and slice the pears. Toss them with the juice of one-half lemon and set aside.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Stir in the nuts. Set aside.
• Cream 12 tablespoons of the butter with one cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the flour and nut mixture, then the remaining lemon juice and the vanilla. Spread the batter in the pan.
• Arrange the pear slices, overlapping, on the surface of the batter in a pattern. Sprinkle them with all but one tablespoon of the remaining sugar and dot with the remaining butter. Place the cake in the oven and bake until it is golden brown, the top springs back when lightly touched and a cake tester comes out clean, about 70 minutes.
• Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Serve at once or when completely cooled.