Hot Pear And Almond Charlotte Recipes

PEAR CHARLOTTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large skillet, combine pears, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, and lemon juice and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until pears are soft and juicy, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high and continue cooking until liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool to room temperature.
• In a medium bowl, combine butter, remaining tablespoon sugar, and cinnamon; mix until smooth.
• Lay the side of a 5-ounce ramekin on top of the bread, and cut bread into pieces that are 1/2 inch thicker than the height of the ramekin. Turn each piece on its side and slice 3/8 inch thick.
• Butter one side of each piece of brioche with the cinnamon-sugar butter. With a long side of the bread closest to you, cut each slice vertically into 4 equal pieces. Line only the sides of the ramekins with the brioche pieces, buttered side against the ramekins. Bread should fit snugly around ramekins without any gaps.
• Divide pear mixture evenly between each ramekin, pressing down to compact. Using a serrated knife, trim off any bread that extends above the rim of the ramekins.
• Place ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake until tops are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes, and then invert onto individual plates to unmold. Drizzle custard sauce around each charlotte and top with chantilly cream. Serve warm.

PEAR AND ALMOND FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Evenly distribute the butter cubes into the bottom of a 10x14-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Arrange the pear slices into the bottom of the dish. Arrange the bread cubes into a single layer over the pears.
• Mix the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract together in a bowl until fully blended; pour evenly over the bread cubes, assuring all pieces are evenly covered. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and chill overnight in refrigerator.
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and allow to warm while the oven preheats.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the top of the bread is golden brown and the eggs have solidified, 45 to 60 minutes. Top with the sliced almonds to serve.

PEAR AND ALMOND CROSTATA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, flour, 1 egg and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer until well blended and smooth. Set aside.
• Divide each package of almond paste into 4 equal portions. On a floured work surface roll each portion into a 6-inch round, about 1/8-inch thick. Put 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into the center of each round. Spread the filling out in an even layer, about 1/2-inch from the edge of the round.
• Quarter each pear and remove the core. Cut each quarter into 5 slices. Fan out 5 of the pear slices on top of the filling in the center of 1 of the rounds. Gently fold the edge of the almond paste round over the edge of the filling. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets and repeat with the remaining almond rounds, filling and pears.
• Whisk together the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl until well blended. Using a pastry brush lightly brush each crostata with the egg wash and sprinkle each with the raw sugar.
• Put the baking sheets into the oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve each crostata on individual plates with a small scoop of ice cream and garnished with sliced almonds and mint.

PEAR CROSTATA WITH HONEY, BLUE CHEESE, AND ALMONDS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Arrange the pears, cut sides up, on a baking sheet and dot with butter. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pears are just tender. Let cool.
• Increase the oven heat to 450 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the counter and a rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll the dough out to a 14-inch round, about 1/4-inch thick. It doesn't have to be perfect. Transfer the dough to the back of a lightly floured baking sheet. Slice the pears and arrange them on the dough round by overlapping the slices in a spiral fashion, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Drizzle with the honey, scatter blue cheese over the top, and sprinkle with the almonds.
• Brush the border with the egg wash. Bring the edge of crust over onto the filling, leaving the fruit exposed in center. Gently fold and pinch the dough to seal any cracks. Brush the crust with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is tender. Slide a knife under the crostata to loosen it from the pan. Then cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg yolk and ice water and work that in with your hands. (Or do the whole thing in a food processor, pulsing a couple of times to combine the dry ingredients, then pulsing in the butter, and then the egg.) Check the consistency of the dough by squeezing a small amount together between thumb and forefingers: You want there to be just enough moisture to bind the dough so that it holds together without being too wet or sticky. If it's still crumbly, add a little more ice water, 1 teaspoon at a time. When you get it to the right consistency, shape the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic. Put it in the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

PEAR AND FIG CHARLOTTE

Steps:

• Make the fruit mixture: Drain the pears. Separate 7 ounces, about 4 pear halves, into a small bowl, and set aside for Poire Williams cream; place remaining pears in a large bowl (a deep bowl is best).
• Bring water, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla bean pulp to a boil in a medium saucepan or the microwave. Remove syrup from heat, and pour it over pears in large bowl. Press a piece of waxed paper against pears to submerge them; if the paper alone isn't enough to submerge pears in syrup, place a plate on top of the waxed paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Cut figs into small cubes (about 1/4 inch on a side), and put them in a small saucepan. Cover with water, and bring just to a boil. Transfer figs and water to a container, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• Make the soaking syrup: Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan or the microwave. Remove from heat, and when the syrup is cool, stir in Poire Williams.
• Make the cake: If using the Ladyfinger Batter, follow the recipe, piping the batter into two 9-inch disks and two 8-inch bands of 4-inch-long ladyfingers, baking, and cooling.
• Make the Poire Williams cream filling: Puree reserved 7 ounces drained pears in a blender or food processor; set aside. Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and have at the ready a smaller bowl and a fine-mesh strainer.
• Bring milk to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk sugar and yolks together in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan. Whisking without stopping, drizzle in about one-third of the boiling milk. Once yolks are acclimated to heat, whisk in the rest of the milk in a slow, steady stream. Place saucepan over medium heat, and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula, cook cream filling until it reaches 180 degrees, as measured on an instant-read thermometer, less than 5 minutes. (Alternatively, to check if cream has cooked long enough, stir the cream filling, and then draw your finger down the spatula or the bowl of the wooden spoon; if the cream doesn't run into the track you've created, it's done.) The cream filling will not thicken much. Immediately remove saucepan from heat, and allow cream filling to rest for 2 minutes. Strain into the small reserved bowl, and stir in Poire Williams.
• Sprinkle gelatin over water, and allow it to rest until softened. Heat in the microwave oven for about 15 seconds, or cook over low heat, until gelatin dissolves. Stir gelatin into cream filling, and then gently stir in reserved pureed pears. Set the bowl in the ice bath, adding cold water to the ice cubes, and, stirring from time to time, cool cream filling to about 70 degrees.
• To finish the filling, whip heavy cream until it holds medium, firm peaks, and fold it gently into the cream filling with a rubber spatula. The filling is now ready and should be used immediately.
• To finish the fruit mixture, remove and drain 3 of the remaining pears; pat them dry between paper towels, and cut them into cubes, about 1/2 inch on a side. Drain and pat dry the cubed figs. Combine fruits together.
• Place a piece of parchment paper on a cardboard cake round, and center an 8 3/4-inch-by-22-cm dessert ring on the paper; butter the inside of the ring. Cut the bands of ladyfingers lengthwise in half, and fit the halves around the interior of the ring, making certain that the biscuits' flat side faces in; you'll have a piece of band left over. Fit a ladyfinger disk into the bottom to form a base. (If you are using store-bought ladyfingers, cut the biscuits as necessary to form a band and base.) Brush the ladyfinger disk and band with the soaking syrup, using enough syrup to thoroughly moisten the cake.
• Spoon enough cream filling into the biscuit-lined ring to form a layer that comes about halfway up the ladyfinger band, spreading it evenly with a spatula. Cover with the cubed fruit and then another layer of filling, this time coming almost to the top of the ring, and again using the spatula to get an even layer. Top with the second ladyfinger disk, and moisten disk with some soaking syrup (you may have soaking syrup left over). Cover the disk with a thin layer of filling (you may also have filling left over -- it makes a fine dessert on its own or served with cookies), and set the cake into the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours. (At this point, the cake, covered airtight, can be frozen for up to 2 weeks.)
• To finish: Remove the dessert ring, but keep the cake on the cardboard round for maneuverability.
• Slice the remaining pears from the blossom to stem end, and arrange in overlapping concentric circles over the top of the cake. If using fresh figs, slice them from blossom to stem end and slip into the arrangement. Serve the cake now or keep it in the refrigerator, loosely covered, until ready to serve.

PEAR AND RAISIN CHARLOTTE

Steps:

• Use some of the softened butter to lightly coat a five- to six-cup charlotte mold, souffle dish or deep round baking dish. Put the raisins in a dish and add the rum.
• Melt the remaining softened butter in a large, heavy skillet. Add the pears and sugar and cook over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, until the pears have softened almost to a puree and most of the liquid has evaporated.
• Stir in vanilla, the raisins and rum. Continue cooking over low heat another 10 minutes or so, until the mixture forms a thick puree. Adjust sweetening to taste. Remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut eight of the bread slices in half to form rectangles and the rest in half diagonally. Heat some of the clarified butter in a skillet and saute the pieces of bread until they are golden brown on one side only, adding more butter as needed.
• Fit the triangles, sauteed side down, in the bottom of the baking dish so they fit exactly. Trim away any excess and reserve. Arrange the rectangles, sauteed side out, around the sides of the dish, overlapping slightly. Fill the center with the pear mixture and, if necessary, trim the bread rectangles to be level with the fruit. Scatter all trimmings on top.
• Cover the top with foil and bake about 30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for an hour. Unmold the charlotte. Serve with whipped cream, creme fraiche or custard sauce.

ALMOND AND PEAR CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a small tart pan or a 9-inch cake pan.
• Mix pear slices and amaretto liqueur together in a bowl.
• Process almonds and 2 tablespoons sugar together in a food processor until the mixture is a fine almond meal.
• Beat 1/4 cup sugar and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy; add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Mix almond meal mixture, flour, and salt into creamed butter mixture to make a smooth batter.
• Drain pears, reserving the amaretto liqueur. Stir drained liqueur into batter just until incorporated.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing batter if uneven. Arrange pear slices in a decorative pattern atop batter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cake is starting to pull away from the edges, about 25 minutes. Allow cake to cool in pan for at least 15 minutes before serving.