Pear Cranberry Tart
Grab fresh cranberries at the grocery store while they are still available (you can store extras in the freezer for later) and mix up your holiday baking with this flavorful and festive tart. Tarts look really fancy, but they aren't difficult to make plus the smell of this freshly baked sweet is amazing!
Pear Cranberry Tart
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c (6 oz) Better Batter All-Purpose Flour, plus 1-2 tsp extra for flouring the work surface
- 1/2 c Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 9 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg yolk
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature, plus 1-2 tsp butter for greasing the tart pan
- 2/3 c granulated sugar
- 3/4 c ground blanched almonds (I grind these myself using a food grinder attachment for my stand mixer)
- 2 tsp Better Batter All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch (or substitute 1 1/2 tsp arrowroot powder)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 (15 oz) can pear halves, well drained and patted dry
- 1 c fresh cranberries, washed and dried
Instructions
Make the crust. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, pulsing 2-3 times to mix. Add the pieces of cold butter to the dry mixture and pulse until mixture resembles coarse corn meal, at least 10-15 pulses. Lightly beat the yolk and add it to the flour mixture and pulse until dough begins to form large clumps. Remove dough from processor and knead it on a lightly floured surface until it is well combined. Wash and dry the bowl and blade of the food processor.
Prepare the tart pan. Butter a 9 inch fluted tart pan. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking and up to overnight.
First bake. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover the tart with a buttered piece of aluminum foil. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully peel back the foil, and cool crust on a wire rack.
Make the filling. Combine the butter and sugar in a food processor (or use a stand mixer or handheld mixer) until smooth. Add the ground almonds, flour, and cornstarch being sure to process after the addition of each ingredient. Add the egg, vanilla, and spices and process until the almond cream is well combined.
Assemble. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almond cream evenly on the bottom of the baked crust. Thinly slice 5 pear halves crosswise into 4 slices each. Arrange the pear slices on to the filling in a forming a circle of spokes with the wider end toward the edge of the crust. Pour the cranberries over the almond cream and arrange evenly over the tart.
Second bake.Bake the tart for 50 to 60 minutes or until the almond cream is puffy and golden. Tent with foil half way through the baking time if the crust is browning too quickly. Remove from the oven and cool completely on wire rack and serve at room temperature.
Adapted from Some The Wiser
