Pear and apple frangipane tarts

There is nothing that can make my dad happier then a 10kg box of pears for FIVE dollars. Five dollars.. "it barely pays for the freight and packaging!" and these pears were even individually wrapped!

Apart from being ripe and soft, which is exactly what I dislike about pears haha, these were perfect for baking with. And so I made pear frangipane tartlets and even my own tart base from scratch. :D I didn't have a food processor and using a stand mixer was fine.

After the first batch of pear tarts in the oven, I changed my mind and went for some apples too. I love apple frangipane tarts! And I have to admit, I did prefer the apple tart over the pear.

With so much pear left over I also tried making a pear sorbet just like Tetsuya's one. Tetsuya's is a three hat restaurant in Sydney owned by one of the world's top chef, Tetsuya Wakuda. Mum and dad went to have their 20th wedding anniversary dinner there and one of the highlights for them was the pear sorbet. It was snow white! Which was something I couldn’t get the pears to stay like since they kept on browning. Looks like I'm going to have to wait for another pear sale to try it again! Lol.   

p.s. I'm still working on an area for my photos so meanwhile it'll just be my kitchen bench. :D 

Pear and apple frangipane tarts

recipe adapted from here

makes 8

Ingredients:

75g butter, softened

1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (100g) almond meal, firmly packed

2 ripe pears, peeled, halved and cored

2 apples, peeled, halved and cored

ground cinnamon to dust

whipped cream / vanilla ice cream to serve

For the pastry:

1 2/3 cups plain flour

pinch of salt

50g icing sugar, sieved

125g cold butter, cubed

1 vanilla bean, seeds only

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp ice cold water

Method:

To make the pastry, place the flour, salt, icing sugar, butter and vanilla seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until it form breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add the egg yolks and water, mixing until the dough forms a ball. Remove from the mixer and divide into 8 even balls of dough. Flatten each to a disc and wrap separately in cling film. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the egg with the vanilla, beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the almond meal and cinnamon, beat until just combined.

Grease and flour 8 removable base tart tins. Roll the pastry into 8 rounds on a lightly floured surface and press into the tins, remove excess with a sharp knife. Divide the frangipane among the tart cases. Fan the pears and apples by cutting slices a few mm apart, but leaving joined together at the top of the pears, press lightly to fan and place on top of the frangipane. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

Cook in the oven for around 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven, allow to cool enough to remove from the tins. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.