Pear Frangipane Recipes

PEAR FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Fit into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and fold over to make a double-thick edge. Roll rolling pin over edge of tart pan to trim dough, and pierce bottom of dough all over with a fork. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, ground almonds, rum, almond extract, and flour; beat until smooth. Spread the thick mixture evenly in chilled tart shell and refrigerate while preparing pears.
• Remove cooled poached pears from poaching liquid and cut in half lengthwise, removing the core and stem. Reserve poaching liquid. Place each half, cut side down, on a cutting board, and cut crosswise into thin slices. Arrange sliced pear halves on frangipane filling around edge of tart, leaving space between each half, and place one half in center of tart. When arranging pears, try to "pull" slices toward center of tart, which will elongate pears a bit and fill the shell better than if the pears were just placed flat. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees, and bake until tart shell is golden brown and frangipane has puffed and browned, 25 to 35 minutes more.
• While tart is baking, bring reserved poaching liquid to a boil and reduce by half. Brush this glaze lightly over pears immediately after removing tart from oven. Serve at room temperature.

FRANGIPANE PEAR TART

Steps:

• Combine water, 1 cup white sugar, honey, vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, and cardamom in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add pears; reduce heat and simmer until pears are translucent or easily pierced with a knife, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• Combine 1 1/2 cup flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter until mixture is crumbly. Mix in egg yolk until dough sticks together in large clumps.
• Grease a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough evenly into the pan. Freeze for 30 minutes. Reserve leftover dough for patching cracks.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Grease the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil with butter; place butter-side down over the pastry. Transfer tart pan to a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven, using leftover dough to patch any cracks, until dough looks dry and light brown, about 20 minutes. Peel off aluminum foil; let pastry cool.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine 2/3 cup white sugar and 1/3 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in ground almonds. Add egg, egg yolk, 2 teaspoons flour, and cornstarch; beat until frangipane is smooth. Beat in almond extract and vanilla extract.
• Spread frangipane evenly over the pastry. Drain pear halves and dry with paper towels. Cut lengthwise into even slices. Place 1 pear half on a spatula and gently fan out slices. Place on frangipane. Repeat with remaining pear halves.
• Bake in the preheated oven until frangipane is firm to the touch, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

PEAR FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Prepare tart shell using this homemade or Hot Water Pastry recipe.
• In a food processor, crumble the almond paste and add powdered sugar and butter; process until mixed and smooth.
• Add eggs, cover, and process again until smooth.
• Pour the almond mixture into the prepared tart shell.
• Now prepare the pears; peel, core, and slice them into 1/2-inch slices.
• Arrange the pear slices over the almond filling on their sides, making a circular pattern, pressing into the almond mixture slightly.
• Sprinkle the pears with the lemon juice, then with the sugar.
• Bake the tart for 40 to 50 minutes or until almond filling is set and the pears are light brown and glazed.
• Remove the tart from the oven and place it on a wire rack.
• In a small saucepan, heat the jelly until liquid and smooth, stirring frequently; carefully brush over the pears.
• Let the tart cool, then serve.

DRUNKEN PEAR FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Roll piecrust to increase the circumference enough to fit the tart pan. Place piecrust into a removable bottom tart pan and set aside in refrigerator.
• Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together, whip until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add ground almonds, rum, egg, almond extract and flour; beat until smooth. This is the frangipane. Spread evenly into the chilled tart shell, and refrigerate.
• Combine raspberry lager, sugar, lemon juice, zest, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla bean in a 6-quart stockpot. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add peeled pears, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered until pears are tender when pierced, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Remove cooled poached pears from liquid, and halve each lengthwise; removing core and stem. Place each half, cut side down, on a cutting board, and cut crosswise into thin slices. Arrange the fanned pear slices on chilled frangipane evenly. Bake the tart for 40 to 45 minutes or until the shell is golden brown and frangipane is puffed and brown.
• In a saucepan, melt the apricot jam and brush the top of the tart with a pastry brush as soon as it comes out of the oven. Cool the tart to room temperature before slicing.
• When arranging the pears, try to stretch slices toward the center of the tart, which will elongate the pears a bit and fill the shell better than if the pears were just placed flat.

FRANGIPANE

Steps:

• Combine the almond cream ingredients and in a pastry bag with a large opening (no tip) and set aside. Halve the puff pastry and roll each into an 8 1/2-inch circle, 1/8 inch thick.
• Place 1 of the circles on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Pipe a 5-inch diameter mound of almond cream in the center of the circle. The mound should be about 1-inch high. Prepare the egg wash: Whisk together the egg yolks, whole egg, and milk in a small bowl until well combined.
• Lightly brush the remaining 1 1/2-inch rim of the pastry circle with the egg wash. Place the second circle of puff pastry over the first. Gently press against the sides of the almond cream mound to remove any trapped air. Seal the edges of the 2 layers by pressing the top edge into the bottom edge. Use a sharp knife to give the circle a fluted edge like a flower. Use a sharp knife to pierce a 1/2-inch slit in the top layer at the center. This will allow steam to escape during baking. To make the classic pattern in the top, use a sharp knife to score a curved line that begins at the top of the mound and ends at the bottom of the mound. Repeat this line every 1/2 inch around the circumference of the mound, but be careful not to cut through the top layer and into the almond cream. Lightly brush the top with egg wash.
• Let the frangipane rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour before baking. (At this point, you can wrap the frangipane well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Let it thaw in the refrigerator or in your backpack before baking.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until it begins to brown slightly, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze: Stir together the corn syrup and water.
• Remove the frangipane from the oven and brush it well with the corn syrup mixture. This adds sweetness, enhances the color, and gives it a crispy crust. Continue to bake until well risen and evenly browned, about another 20 minutes. The baked frangipane should be flaky and tender, and the almond cream center still moist. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. The frangipane is best when served while it is still slightly warm. Use a serrated knife to slice it.

PEAR AND FRANGIPANE CROSTATA

Steps:

• Make the dough: Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a stand mixer or in a bowl with a sturdy whisk, beat together sugar, salt, eggs and butter. Fold in flour and knead the dough into a ball. Squash the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 2 days before using. (Dough can also be frozen up to 2 months.) Roll out dough using a lightly floured rolling pin or press dough into a 10-inch French tart pan. Freeze or refrigerate tart shell while you make the filling. (It is not necessary to blind bake the tart shell.)
• Make the filling: Whisk together almonds, sugar, butter, egg yolks and whole egg until creamy, then whisk in rum and almond extract.
• Spread the frangipane batter evenly over the bottom of tart shell, and arrange pear slices over in a circular pattern. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake at 375 degrees, for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees. (If pastry is browning too quickly, loosely cover edges with foil.) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden but not too dark and a toothpick pushed into the center of the tart comes out clean. If it doesn't, bake a few minutes longer.

PEAR-AND-FRANGIPANE PASTRIES

Steps:

• Dough: In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk; stir until dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla seeds. In a mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment, beat together 4 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and 4 tablespoons butter on low speed until mixture resembles coarse meal, 3 to 4 minutes. Add yeast mixture; beat until dough just comes together. Add eggs and yolk; beat until just combined, 2 to 3 minutes (do not overmix). Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Switch mixer to the paddle attachment and beat together remaining 3 sticks and 4 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour. Shape mixture into a 10-by-12-inch rectangle on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day. (Before proceeding, let butter mixture stand at room temperature until it has same consistency as dough.)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick, keeping corners square. (Remove any excess flour from dough with a dry pastry brush.) With a short side facing you, place butter mixture over bottom two-thirds of dough. Fold unbuttered third down over butter, then bottom third up over that (as you would fold a business letter; this seals in the butter). Roll out dough again to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle, then fold into thirds as described above; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour. (This completes the first of three turns.) Repeat rolling and folding process two more times, refrigerating at least 1 hour between turns. Wrap tightly in plastic; refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. (Dough can also be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 2 weeks; thaw in refrigerator overnight before using.)
• Pears: In a large saucepan, bring wine, lemon zest and juice, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla seeds, and 2 cups water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; add pears and cover with a parchment round to keep submerged. Cook, occasionally turning pears by gently rotating stems with your fingertips, until tender when pierced with a paring knife, about 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a heatproof bowl. Return poaching liquid to a boil and continue cooking until syrupy and reduced by half, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour syrup over pears and refrigerate, covered, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight.
• Frangipane: In mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a mini food processor, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1 egg, almonds, rum, almond extract, and flour; beat until smooth.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove pears from poaching liquid and pat dry with paper towels. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 12-by-20-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out 16 rounds and divide between 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Fill each pear half with about 2 teaspoons frangipane and place, cut-side down, in centers of rounds. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, lightly beat remaining egg. Brush rounds of dough with egg wash, avoiding pears. Bake, rotating halfway through, until pastries are evenly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

PEAR, ALMOND, FRANGIPANE TARTADA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll out pie crust onto a baking sheet.
• Whisk almond paste, egg, and salt together in a bowl until blended. Spread over pie crust, leaving space on the perimeter to fold crust.
• Mix pears and lemon juice in a bowl. Arrange in a decorative pattern on top of almond mixture. Fold outer edges of crust over pears.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust is golden, 30 to 50 minutes.
• Place almonds in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir until toasted, about 3 minutes. Add preserves; cook and stir until saucy, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour over the tart.

PEAR AND HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pulse hazelnuts with 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until finely ground, then add flour and pulse to combine.
• Beat together butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer at moderately high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in extracts. Reduce speed to low and mix in nut mixture until just combined.
• Spread frangipane filling evenly in tart shell. Peel, halve, and core pears, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, holding slices together to keep pear shape intact. Arrange pears decoratively on filling, fanning slices slightly. Bake until pears are golden and frangipane is puffed and golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Brush pears (not filling) with preserves and cool tart completely in pan on rack, then remove side of pan.