Tarte Bourdaloue

A classic French tart of pears and almond cream, Guillaume adds his own touch by finishing the tart with a glazing of honey.

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  2 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Sweet shortcut pastry

• 150 g unsalted butter, diced
• 300 g plain flour, extra for dusting
• 100 g icing sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp cold water

Almond cream

• 250 g butter
• 250 g sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 250 g almond meal
• 80 g plain flour
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 3 ripe pears, peeled and poached
• 125 g honey, to glaze

Resting time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, sift the sugar and flour together.
2. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or your fingers or a food processor. Add the egg yolks then mix the dough until it forms a ball, add cold water 1 tbsp at a time if dough is too dry.If dough is too soft, flatten to a disc and wrap with cling film. Refrigerate for 15 minutes before rolling.
3. Roll out into 3-mm thick disc and line a 25-cm tart tin. Dock with a fork and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
4. Cover the dough with baking paper and place pie weights on top. Blind bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and remove pie weights from the baked tart shell.
5. Bake for a further 15 minutes, the tart should be golden-brown and crispy.
6. Remove tart shell from oven and cool down completely. Once tart shell is cool, it is ready for use.
7. Meanwhile, to make the filling, beat the butter and sugar until combined, then add the almond meal and flour to form a paste. Add eggs, one at a time, as well as the vanilla bean and mix well to form a batter.
8. Preheat oven to 170°C. Fill tart shell with almond cream just below the top of the tart shell. Use an offset spatula to even the top.
9. Cut the poached pears in half lengthwise then place on top of the almond cream.
10. Bake the tart for 45-60 minutes or until the frangipane is set. Remove tart from oven.
11. While tart is still warm, place honey in a small saucepan and warm until runny. Brush on top of the tart to finish.

 

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.