Pear Tart a la Patt

I wanted my first recipe to be a dessert, and one that would be both delicious and challenging.  I have been baking for as long as I can remember, but I never made a tart before, so this would be a new experience.  Had I realized how much the final product would cost me (including a few new scars on my arm), I might have picked something a bit simpler.  The almond meal is about ten dollars for a small bag, and the vanilla bean was nine dollars for one bean.  Since it's February and pears are out of season, they had to come from South America, so they cost $1.99 per pound and I bought nearly three pounds.


The pear tart itself is not terribly difficult, but it did take more than two hours to complete.  Before beginning the work it is important to ensure that you have all of the ingredients and the proper tools.  I did not own a tart pan, but I was fortunate enough to remedy that this week, so I was able to begin.


There is a French phrase used in cooking that is extremely important to learn.  Mise En Place essentially means "everything in its place" and is vital if you want your dishes to turn out properly.  By taking the time to gather your ingredients, measure them out, prepare them (cut, grate, dice, etc.) and have them at the ready, you will not only increase your chance of success, but you will find that cooking becomes more enjoyable and less of a chore.


With that in mind, we begin the recipe.  This is done in three separate steps; the crust, the topping and the filling.  I will start with the crust:

This picture is a good example of mise en place.  From the top (and going clockwise) we have 1 2/3 cups of flour, 1 1/4 sticks of chilled butter, cut into cubes, a container of ice water, a large mixing bowl, a pastry blender, a smaller mixing bowl, one egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup sugar and a bottle of vanilla extract.  Do not use the entire bottle.  You only use 1/2 a teaspoon, but I don't see any point in measuring that out into another container.

In the large mixing bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt.  Using the pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture is about the size of small peas.  In the small bowl, mix the egg yolk and vanilla, then mix this into the flour and butter mixture until it resembles corn meal.  Stir in the ice water, one tablespoon at a time to a maximum of three tablespoons, or until the dough holds together.

Form the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for an hour.  Then put it on a floured surface and roll it out to be about two inches larger than the pan.  Lay the dough into the tart pan (with removable bottom) and trim the dough to be even with the top of the pan.  I used an 11 inch pan.  Line it with pie weights, or place a piece of parchment paper on the dough and cover with rice or dried beans.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove the weights (or rice or beans) and place on a rack to cool.

This is what my crust looked like just before going into the oven.  Be careful when using this type of pan.  Since the bottom is removable you cannot hold the pan from underneath.  I took it out of the oven this way, and the ring that makes the side of the pan slid down onto my bare arm.  I now have three nice burn marks on the inside of my left wrist that I think may be permanent.  Cooking is not without its costs.

While the crust is baking (and cooling) you can continue with the pears.  Take four Bartlett pears, peel them and cut them in half lengthwise.  Try to use ripe pears.  I used ones that tended to be more green and the end result was not as good as I think it would have been had they been a bit riper.  It still tastes good, but the riper pears would be easier to cut with a fork when eating the tart.  

The pears will look like this:

Now take one quart of water and 1 1/2 cups of sugar and bring them to a boil.  Stir to dissolve the sugar, and lower the heat so the mixture remains at just below the point of a simmer.  Immerse the pears into the sugar water and cook until they are fully poached.  When you can easily slide a knife through the thickest part of the pear, they're done.  This step took me quite a bit of time because the pan I used only held two complete pears at a time.

This is what the pears look like during the poaching process.  Once complete, remove from the water and allow to cool completely.  Once cooled, take each half and cut it in half lengthwise, then use a paring knife to remove the core and stem.  Once done, cut each quarter lengthwise into three slices so that a full pear would yield twelve slices.  You will have a total of 48 slices when you are finished.  As a side note, I didn't throw away the sugar water when I finished.  I let it cool and strained out the seeds, then poured it into a humming bird feeder.  We'll see if they eat it.


Now you have the crust finished, and by now it's probably cool enough to work with, and the pears are sliced and ready to go.  This means it's time to prepare the custard, and again we employ our mise en place like so:

Again starting at the top and going clockwise, we have 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/3 cup of sugar, 2/3 cup almond meal (which is a flour made from ground almonds), 1/2 cup of flour, two eggs, and 2 1/3 cups of milk.  On the cutting board at the bottom of the picture is a vanilla bean.  Use the paring knife to split it down the center.


Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl add the almond meal and butter.  Do not mix.  In a medium saucepan add the vanilla bean to the milk and cook over medium heat just to a simmer.  Do not boil.  Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla bean.  What a waste of nine bucks, but you'll like the flavor it imparts.


In a large saucepan beat the eggs and add the sugar and flour.  Mix well and add about a cup of the hot milk.  Whisk this well and then add the rest of the milk.  Continue whisking over medium heat just until it thickens, then pour it into the large bowl over the almond meal and butter and continue to whisk the mixture.  The next time I do this, I will probably use an electric mixer on it, as it will probably make the mixture smoother.  It has a slight grittiness to it the way I made it.


Pour the custard into the pie shell and spread it out evenly.  Arrange the pieces of pear on the top in a circle.  I arranged the slices from the outer edge for the first circle, then from the center for the second circle, and I still had slices left over.


Bake the tart for about 30 minutes or until the custard is lightly brown and set.  Let cool on a rack for at least one full hour before slicing.  The finished tart will look something like this:

I waited the requisite hour and tasted the finished product, and I have to say, it's not bad for my first attempt.


Bon appetit!