This Hazelnut Pear Tart is an easy way to let poached pears shine! Hazelnut frangipane is baked inside a sweet tart dough with red wine poached pears! A delightful twist on a French classic!
Think of this recipe as an assemblage of components. It is quintessential French Pastry. You reach into your pastry chef tool kit and pull out three unassuming pastry essentials, et voilà, the result is a magnificent dessert!
The cool part about this Pastry Chef party trick is that you can substitute anything here and make it your own! Want to use poached quince instead? LOVE IT. Stealing it. Want to use traditional almond cream? You know I’m obsessed. Want to use my semolina tart dough for the crust? Are we the same person? ?
The sucrée crust is a little sweet and pairs beautifully with the nuttiness of the frangipane and the savory red wine pears. Reduce some of the poaching liquid and serve it with a slice of the tart, a bit of whipped cream or ice cream for the perfect composed dessert.
I baked my tart in a rectangular pan, which is a bit smaller than an 8 inch round tart pan. I have written the recipe for a round tart pan to ensure you have enough of each component. The good news is that you can store the remainder for another use!
Hazelnut Pear Tart
Ingredients
Sweet Crust Pastry
- 85 g Powdered sugar
- 175 g Butter (cubed)
- 100 g Eggs
- 350 g Pastry Flour (or All Purpose)
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
Hazelnut Cream
- 250 g Butter
- 250 g Sugar
- 150 g Eggs
- 40 g cornstarch
- 30 g Grand Marnier or Frangelico
- 150 g red wine
2 Red Wine Poached Pears
- 2 pears
- 17.5 g sugar
- 142 g water
- ½ vanilla bean
- 6 g lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F convection, if you have that option.
- Working quickly, roll out the tart dough on parchment paper to about 3mm thick. Keep in mind the shape of your tart pan as you roll: if you have a rectangular pan, keep your dough in a rectangle; and if you have a circle, try and keep the dough in an approximate circle shape.
- Chill the dough thoroughly, about 20 minutes.
- Line the removable bottomed tart pan with the rolled crust, lifting and setting it into the corners and creases. If the dough breaks while you are lining, just press it together again.
- Chill the lined pan for about 15 minutes and then cut off the excess pastry with a pairing knife.
- Place dollops of hazelnut cream (it can be room temperature or cold straight from the fridge) into the crust and spread it out in one even layer.
- Arrange the pears on the top of the hazelnut cream. The hazelnut cream will puff as it bakes to encase the pears, so you don’t need to press them into the cream layer.
- Chill the dough one more time until firm, approximately 20 minutes depending on how long it took to assemble.
- Bake the tart in a preheated oven, checking and rotating every 15 minutes. Bake until the tart shell is dark, golden brown and the almond cream is set and has begun to brown in the center. The rectangular mold took about 35 minutes.
- Cool completely before removing from the pan.
- Cut and serve room temperature! You can also wrap it well and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days or for 7 in the refrigerator.
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