Pear And Mascarpone Tart With Brandy Caramel Sauce Recipes

PEAR TARTS WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the almond cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer or with a wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, beat in well, and add the Amaretto. Stir in the ground almonds and flour until evenly mixed. The mixture should be the consistency of a thick paste.
• To make the caramel sauce: In a small sauce pan, combine the brown sugar, butter and cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil vigorously for 2 minutes, remove from the heat. Cover and keep warm at the back of the stove.
• To make the tarts: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a 1/8 inch thickness and, using a plate or cardboard circle as a template, use a very sharp knife to cut four 7 inch circles. Spread a circle of almond cream in the center of each, leaving a 1inch border. Fan the sliced pears out from the center of each tart, completely covering the almond cream but still leaving the border. Beat the egg yolk lightly with a fork and brush the border of the pastry with it (try not to let any yolk dribble down onto the cut edges of the pastry, otherwise it will not rise as high). Bake the tarts for about 20 minutes, until the edges are golden and the pastry is baked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes Place a sprig of mint in the center of each tart and sprinkle it with a little confectioners sugar. Serve warm, drizzled with the warm caramel sauce.

CARAMELIZED UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR TART

Steps:

• Peel, halve, and core pears.
• In a 9- to 10-inch ovenproof non-stick skillet or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and stir in sugar (sugar will not be dissolved). Arrange pears, cut sides up, in skillet, with side parts at rim of skillet. Sprinkle pears with cinnamon and cook without stirring until sugar mixture forms a deep golden caramel. (This can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 25, depending on skillet and stove.) Cool pears completely in skillet.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into an 11-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and arrange over caramelized pears. Tuck edge around pears. Bake tart in middle of oven until pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Have ready a rimmed serving plate slightly larger than skillet. As soon as tart has finished baking, invert plate over skillet and, wearing oven mitts and keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together, invert tart onto plate. (This is a bit scary, but it works!)
• Serve tart at room temperature or chilled with whipped cream or ice cream.