Pear Hazelnut Dartois Recipes

PEAR DARTOIS

Steps:

• Place sugar and 1 litre water in a wide saucepan that will fit the fruit snugly and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
• Peel pears from stalk downwards, then cut in half lengthways and remove seeds with a melon scoop. Add pears to the simmering syrup and increase the heat. Cover the surface directly with a round of baking paper, then place a plate on top to ensure the fruit stays submerged. Bring syrup to the boil, then reduce the heat to low so the syrup is just simmering and gently poach the pears until you can easily pierce the flesh with the tip of a knife (10-15 minutes). Cool pears in syrup (1 hour), covered with baking paper, then refrigerate in the syrup until needed. The pears will keep submerged in syrup for a week.
• For frangipane, pulverise almond meal in a food processor, then sieve. Combine with the icing sugar and set aside. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and work the butter until smooth. Add the almond mixture and continue beating until very pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, then flour and mix to combine. Makes 500gm. (You'll only need 150gm; remainder can be refrigerated for another use.)
• Roll 200gm puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 30cm x 13cm rectangle. Roll this around the rolling pin, then unroll it onto an oven tray lightly sprayed with cold water and prick the pastry with a fork. Using a spoon, spread 150gm frangipane along the length of the pastry, leaving a 2cm border on either side. Brush pastry borders with eggwash. Pat pear halves dry and arrange on the frangipane in alternating directions so they fit snugly head to toe.
• Roll remaining pastry into a 30cm x 16cm rectangle. Fold the pastry in half lengthways without applying pressure. Make incisions down the length of the pastry at roughly 4mm intervals with the heel of a chef's knife, leaving a 2cm strip intact on the two outside edges. Unfold the pastry into its original shape. Drape it over the rolling pin and unroll it onto the pears to cover. Lightly press the edges together with your fingertips and refrigerate the dartois for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200C. Trim off about 3mm pastry along the length of the rectangle. Delicately and sparingly brush the top of the pastry with eggwash. Liberally brush the sides with more eggwash. With the tip of a small, sharp knife, make light, diagonal incisions in the borders, then along the edges and bake for 25 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 220C, dust the dartois with icing sugar and return it to the oven for 1-2 minutes, or place it under a hot grill for a few seconds, until beautifully glazed. Serve the dartois warm cut widthways into portions.

CHOCOLATE PEAR HAZELNUT TART

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix flour, hazelnuts, brown sugar and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Shape into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight., Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust even with edge. Prick bottom of crust with a fork. Refrigerate while preparing filling., In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until blended. Beat in egg yolks and amaretto. Beat in hazelnuts and cocoa., With clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Fold a third of the egg whites into hazelnut mixture, then fold in remaining whites. Spread onto bottom of crust. Arrange pears over top., Bake on a lower oven rack 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Brush pears with warm honey. Cool on a wire rack. If desired, dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

PEAR-HAZELNUT TART

Steps:

• Grease an 8-inch tart pan.
• Combine 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, butter, egg, sugar, water, and salt in a large bowl. Quickly knead into a smooth dough. Place in a container with a lid and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. The pastry needs to be firm enough to be rolled out.
• Roll out chilled pastry on a floured work surface and fit into the prepared tart pan. Shape an edge and prick the pastry several times with a fork. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Cover the pastry with parchment paper and fill with dry beans or pastry weights. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Leave the oven on.
• Meanwhile, roast hazelnuts in a dry skillet over low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and chop coarsely.
• Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Add cream and beat until well combined. Mix in egg and beat until batter is smooth. Spread onto the pastry. Arrange pear slices in an overlapping pattern on top of the cream and scatter hazelnuts on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until topping has set and is lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.

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.

PEAR AND HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the cold butter and pulse ten times until the butter is the size of large peas. Add 3 tablespoons of cold water and pulse until it comes together. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and bring the dough together, forming a disk. Wrap in Reynolds® Parchment Paper and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Fill a 9-inch tart mold or rectangle tart mold with the dough. Cut off excess from the top and refrigerate for another 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover the top of the dough with Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil and weigh down with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights and let cool.
• Combine the hazelnuts and sugar in the food processor. Pulse to a fine powder. Add the butter, egg, flour, vanilla, rum and salt. Process until it comes together as a paste.
• Spread the mixture over the partially baked tart. On the top, arrange the pear slices in a pattern. Bake the tart for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

HAZELNUT, PEAR AND CARDAMOM TART

Steps:

• Prepare the Shortcut Pie Crust through Step 3.
• When ready to make the pie, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet until evenly browned and skins are loosened, 25 to 30 minutes. While they are still warm, rub them together in a dish towel to remove the skins. Cool the skinned hazelnuts, and then blitz them to a fine meal with the flour in the food processor. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
• Crush the cardamom pods and retrieve the seeds, discarding the pods, then crush the seeds to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle.
• In a food processor, cream the butter, granulated sugar and crushed cardamom until pale and fluffy. With the machine running, add eggs one at a time, emulsifying each one fully before adding the next, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer to the bowl with the hazelnut meal and stir to combine. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.
• While the frangipane chills, shape and bake the crust: Working over an 11-inch fluted tart pan, prepare the Shortcut Pie Crust through Step 4, then chill, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. (This can be done ahead.)
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chilled crust until just-cooked but not browned, about 15 minutes. (The crust will continue to cook while the tart bakes, so expect it to darken in color when it bakes the second time.) Cool completely.
• Scoop the hazelnut frangipane into the crust. (Don't try to spread it; it will distribute itself evenly as it cooks.) Nestle the pears into the frangipane, tucking some underneath the frangipane and leaving others on top.
• Bake on a baking sheet until the frangipane is fully set in the center and the crust is golden brown, 75 to 90 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely, then remove from the pan and serve with crème fraîche.