Become a Master Chef: Pear and Almond Tart

Our instructor Chef Emma Nowell showing us how to make a perfect apple pie

What I liked most is that the classes are all very hands-0n and taught just like the courses for the degree program – but even better because the student helpers measure out all of the ingredients and clean up!  So it’s pretty much like the best of both worlds!

My wonderful little workspace

We first made an incredible Old-Fashioned Apple Pie with a super flaky, buttery crust.  It is perfect for that cold, rainy evening topped with vanilla ice cream.  Chef Emma demonstrated the more rustic Apple Galette using the same flaky pie dough topped with turbinado sugar.

We also made a beautiful Pear and Almond Tart made with poached pears and creamy almond filling. It looks fancy and is perfect for entertaining, but it really isn’t overly complicated.  The recipe is below for you to try it yourself!  The sugar dough used for the tart shell is sugary, crispy and fantastic.  Any leftover tart dough you may have is also perfect for sugar cookies!

The fantastic Apple Galette we also made!

I can’t wait to go to another class!  The Cookies and Confections class sounds pretty great to me! 🙂

Pear and Almond Tart

Courtesy of Le Cordon Bleu

Sweet Sugar Dough:

Ingredients:

• 1/2C + 3T softened unsalted butter
• 1/2C powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/4t salt
• 1/2t vanilla
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature 
• 1 3/4C pastry or all-purpose flour, sifted

Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla togethre and slowly add to the butter and sugar mixture.  Add the flour and salt, and mix until combined.  Roll out into a circle about 5-6″ in diameter and 1/2″ thick, cover in plastic wrap and chill until firm (approximatley 1 hour). 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and place into a 9″ round loose-bottomed fluted tart pan, pressing the dough into the edges of the pan.  Par bake (partially baking the shell without any filling) for about 15 minutes, until the shell is still pale but edges are lightly browned.

Pear and Almond Tart:

Ingredients:

• 1 batch sweet sugar dough (see above)
• 1/4C powdered sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3 pears (ripe but still firm), peeled, cored and halved
• 3T apricot preserve
• 2/3C unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3C powdered sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4C ground almonds (almond meal)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3T all-purpose flour

Poach the pears the night prior to baking the tart: put the sugar, vanilla pean and pears in a saucepan. Pour in 2 to 1 water to white wine, just enough to cover the pears.  Remove the pears and bring the liquid to a simmer.  Add pears again and poach for 5 minutes, covered, until tender.  Allow pears to cool and chill overnight in the liquid.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the almond filling, cream the butter and together until creamy.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract gradually. Fold in the almond meal, lemon zest and flour, until combined.  Set aside.

Slice the pears into 1/2″ vertical strips. Take the par-baked tart shell and spread 3/4 of the almond filling in the shell. Place the pears on top, cut side down and stem ends in the middle. Fill the gaps with the remaining filling.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the filling is golden and firm.  Melt the preserves with 1 teaspoon of water, strain to remove and lumps and brush over the pears to make them shine.