Cranberry Pear Tart With Gingerbread Crust Recipes

CRANBERRY PEAR TART WITH GINGERBREAD CRUST

Steps:

• Make pear mixture: In a saucepan, combine cranberry juice, sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon juice.
• Bring to boil and add pears.
• Heat until it just comes to simmer and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, or until the pears are just tender.
• Remove from heat, stir in cranberries and let mixture cool.
• Chill, covered, for at least 8 hours.
• (may be made 2 days in advance) Crust: Blend together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt.
• Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• In a small bowl, stir together egg yolk and the molasses.
• Add to flour mixture and mix until combined well but still crumbly.
• Turn out onto 10 inch tart pan with removable rim and press onto bottom and up sides of pan.
• Chill crust for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Prick crust all over with fork, line with foil, fill with pie weights or dry beans, and bake in lower third of oven for 15 minutes.
• Remove foil and pie weights and bake crust a further 10 minutes.
• Let cool.
• Transfer poached pears and half the cranberries with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, discard cinnamon, and reserve syrup with remaining cranberries.
• In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, sour cream, milk, vanilla, zest and a pinch of salt.
• Stir in the drained cranberries.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Spoon half of custard into the crust.
• Slice 4 of the pear halves crosswise on the diagonal, arrange decoratively over the custard alternately with the unsliced pear halves, and spoon remaining custard around pears.
• Bake tart in middle of oven for 50-55 minutes or until custard is just set.
• Remove rim of pan and let cool.
• (may be made up to 8 hours in advance, cooled completely and chilled) Boil reserved syrup until reduced to 1 cup and is jelly-like in consistency and transfer cranberries with slotted spoon to a plate to cool.
• Brush pears with some of cranberry glaze and arrange cranberries around edge of tart.
• Serve warm or chilled.

UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR CRANBERRY TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Toss the pears, nutmeg and half of the lemon juice together in a bowl.
• Melt the butter with the remaining lemon juice, the salt and 3 tablespoons water in a heavy ovenproof 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the sugar into the skillet and stir to combine. Cook the mixture without stirring, letting it foam and bubble; the butter will separate, which is OK. Watch the mixture carefully while it cooks because once the water evaporates and the sugar begins to change color, things happen quickly. When it becomes the color of light brown sugar, about 10 minutes, remove it from the heat. Stir in the vanilla.
• Being careful not to burn yourself, sprinkle the cranberries and ginger into the caramel. Arrange the pears in the skillet round side-down in concentric circles as nicely as you can, fitting in as many pears as possible.
• Return the skillet to the burner over medium heat and cook until the pears start to soften when you poke them with a knife, 10 to 15 minutes.
• While your pears cook, roll out your Pie Crust on a flour-dusted surface to an 11-inch circle. Cover the crust with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Lay the crust over the pears, tucking it in around the edge of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Bake until the crust is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes.
• Allow the tart to cool until you can handle it, about 10 minutes. Put a plate on top of the tart using heatproof pads and flip it over so the pears are on top. Slice and serve warm with creme fraiche, if using.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until the butter is evenly distributed but still visible in chunks. While pulsing, add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is just wet enough to hold together when pinched between your fingers. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

CRANBERRY PEAR TART

Steps:

• Press crust onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. tart pan with removable bottom; trim edges. Generously prick the bottom with a fork; set aside. , In a large skillet, cook the pears, cranberries, apple juice concentrate and apple pie spice over medium heat until pears are tender. Pour into crust. Bake at 375° until crust is golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.