5 Ripe pears
600 ml Single cream; (1 pint)
1 Split vanilla pod; (seeds
-removed and
; saved)
4 Egg yolks
2 tb Plain flour
1 ts Cornflour
2 tb Caster sugar
1 tb Ground almonds
1 tb Pear liqueur
Icing sugar to dredge
FOR THE CARAMEL ALMONDS
140 g Caster sugar; (5 oz)
3 tb Water
10 Blanched almonds; (5 left
-whole, the
; rest roughly
; chopped)
Line a 10 inch flan tin with quick foolproof pastry and bake it blind. Make
some almond pastry cream. Peel and core 5 ripe pears. Make some almond
caramel
For the pastry cream: Bring the cream to the boil with the seeds and pod of
vanilla. Blend the yolks, flours and sugar in a bowl. Gradually pour the
hot cream onto the yolks, whisking continuously. Rinse the pan and return
to the mixture to a low heat and cook gently until thickened, stirring all
the time.
Remove the vanilla pod and stir in the pear liqueur and ground almonds.
Pour into the cooked pastry case. Fan the bases of the pears and arrange
neatly in the tart. Dredge thickly with icing sugar and bake in the pre
heated oven for 10 to 12 minutes to caramelise the pears. Finish under a
hot grill or with a blow torch to achieve the golden tinged effect. Cool
well.
Fill the centre of the tart with shards of caramel and almonds and put the
whole caramelised almonds in between each pear.
For the caramel: Put the sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cover with
the water. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Put the whole nuts on
one side of it and scatter the chopped nuts over the rest. Heat the sugar
and water gently until the sugar dissolves and then boil rapidly until it
forms a golded caramel. Pour over the nuts and leave to set. When cold and
set, break off the whole caramel almonds and save for garnish. With the
handle of a kitchen knife, gently tap the rest of the caramel and break it
into shards of nut caramel to decorate the centre of the tart.
Yields
1 servings