Pear Frangipane

By Hklbrries

Hmmmm. A French dessert served at the most American of holidays? Puritans and purists might call it culinary heresy, but we say, why not? Traditions were made to be tinkered with, and while we love our pumpkin pie as much as the next red-blooded American, we believe a little change is good for the soul, if not the palate.

Frangipane is a rich pastry cream laced with ground almonds. The almonds lend a nutty richness to the custardy cream, which pears beautifully with the fragrant pears. You can use almost any variety of pear, but juicy Boscs, Bartletts and Anjous are especially good this time of year. And if you want to make mini-tarts, try using tiny Seckel pears. If pears aren't your favorite, try the Frangipane with almost any soft seasonal fruit that bakes well.

Ingredients

• Pastry:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons ice water
• Frangipane:
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 soft, ripe pears, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and cored

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from relishmag.com

Preparation

Step 1

Pastry:

To prepare pastry, place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water; pulse until ball barely forms. Gather into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Roll out dough and place into a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool.

Frangipane:

Place butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth. Add almonds and blend. Add flour, cornstarch, egg and egg white. Process until smooth. Add vanilla and almond extracts; blend well.

Spread frangipane in pastry. Slice each pear horizontally into ½ inch thick slices, but do not separate. Slide each pear half into frangipane, nestling into mixture. Press, spreading the pear slices slightly. Bake about 40 minutes, until frangipane is puffy and golden.

Nutrition Info:
Per serving
380 calories
23 g fat
11 g saturated fat
2 g polyunsaturated f
7 g monounsaturated fat
70 mg cholesterol
170 mg sodium
180 mg potassium
42 g carbohydrates
4 g fiber
24 g sugar
5 g protein
14.56 (Glycemic Load)