Pear Tart
Recently, our good friends Barb and Peter were over for dinner. The last time they were here, they had volunteered to help us unpack after our move. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate when you live in one place for 20 years. If it hadn’t been for their help, I think it would have been a week before I’d have been able to find what I needed to start cooking again.
Barb is a fellow foodie, and we have exchanged many recipes over the years. (I’ve posted her Santa Fe pizza which is a delicious change-up from the standard tomato and cheese pizza.) She volunteered to bring dessert, a pear tart; and I told her in advance I’d be taking photos of it because I was sure I’d want to post it. I was right!
I had to laugh when Barb walked in with the tart placed on a red-checkered cloth. It wasn’t a coincidence—Barb chose it because she said it matched my website. We had a lot of fun staging the dessert for photos while our husbands sat back and watched indulgently. Finally, they asked, “When are we getting our dessert?!”
Since this was the first time Barb had made the pear tart recipe, she was a little nervous about how good it would be. She needn’t have worried—it was every bit as delicious as it looked, and none of us left a crumb.
I asked Barb to give me her thoughts on the tart since I hadn’t been the one to make it, and here they are straight from her lips to your “ears”:
“The recipe called for using either Concorde or Anjou pears. Since I could not find either one of these, I used Bosc pears which seemed to turn out fine. I chose to serve the tart without any accompaniment, but a small scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream would be a tasty addition if you so desire.
“This is an easy and fairly quick recipe to put together, and the final result is delicious…not too sweet, moist, and a perfect end to a delicious meal with family or friends.”
Thanks, Barb!
One year ago: Salmon with Bow Ties and Peas
Pear Tart
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened, unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
- Juice of 1/2 lemon, divided
- 1 lb. pears (Concorde or Anjou), cored and sliced 1/2″ thick
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 cup plus 2 tbl. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Direction
Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Squeeze half the lemon juice over pears.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
With an electric mixer, cream 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Beat in flour mixture on low until batter just comes together. Spread in pan. Wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375o F. Arrange pears in tight concentric circles on top of dough. Squeeze remaining lemon juice evenly over pears.
In a bowl, mix 2 tbl. sugar with cinnamon. Sprinkle over pears. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until edges are golden and center is set.
Cool tart in pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around edge. Remove sides from pan.
Source: My friend and fellow foodie, Barbara, who found the recipe in a newspaper magazine