My love for fruit pies and tarts is ever-growing and if they have a special twist like this one… well even better. The secret of this pear tart lies in the frangipane, a delicious almondy sweet layer between the pastry and the pears which gives the tart a crunchy sweet texture (and it is similar to what is hiding in heaven on earth= almond croissants, so really it is impossible to not like it). The tart is really delicious and serving it usually ends with at least one person (mostly me) eating waaay too much. But well, as the tart is this good, it is so worth it.

INGREDIENTS:

Pastry:

• 200 g whole wheat flour
• 50 g ground roasted hazelnuts
• 75 g sugar (half brown, half icing works the best)
• a pinch of salt
• 125 g butter (cold, cut into little chunks)
• a bit of water if needed

Frangipane:

• 100 g butter (room temperature)
• 90 g icing sugar
• 10 g vanilla sugar
• 150 g ground almonds (I prefer them not completely ground, so the frangipane is a bit cruncy)
• 1 tbsp spelt flour
• 1 egg

Topping:

• 6-8 soft pears

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C..
2. For the pastry, simply put everything in a self-standing mixer and put on high-speed and continue mixing until one ball is formed. If this doesn’t happen, add a tablespoon of cold water. Shape it like a loaf, and slice into 0,5cm thick slices.
3. Butter the tin generously and start assembling the slices. Use them to cover the bottom and sides of the tin. Use 2/3 for the bottom and save 1/3 of the dough for topping.
4. Set the tin in the freezer for a few minutes until the oven temperature reaches 180°C.
5. Bake the tart shell for 12 minutes, put out of the oven and set aside.
6. For the frangipane filling put butter, sugar and the egg into a self-standing mixer, put on the highest speed and gradually add almonds and flour until well combined. Set aside.
7. Peel and deseed the pears and cut each in 4.
8. Cover the baked shell with frangipane and arrange the pears on top – there should be enough to cover the frangipane.
9. Now you can play a bit with the remaining dough, you can make little »snakes« and make a pattern of your choice.
10. Bake for another 40 minutes or until golden brown. It’s delicious on its own or with some apricot jam and creme fraiche.