Pear and Almond Tarte

Pears and apples are fruits that are traditionally used in baking in the fall. In this case I used dried pear slices that I picked up at the grocery store when purchasing the prunes and apricots I needed for Chicken Marbella (tomorrow's recipe). I happen to like dried fruit because of its concentrated flavour and robust texture and these pears spoke to me; they had a lovely colour and shape. I had one last pie crust in the freezer that was left over from the large batch of pastry I made on Thanksgiving weekend. With friends coming for dinner this evening, I felt inspired to design an elegant dessert. It helps to have a springform pan for this recipe , although it is not necessary.

Ingredients:

- about 8 dried pear slices or enough to cover the bottom of your springform pan
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter plus more for dotting the pears after the tarte is assembled
- 2/3 cup ground almonds
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
- enough pastry to form 1 crust
- apricot jam

Place the dried pears in a shallow bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit about 30 minutes in the water to rehydrate somewhat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter. Mix melted butter and all of the other ingredients together with a fork (excluding the pastry and jam). Roll pastry dough into a round that fills the bottom of a springform pan and comes up the sides of the pan about 1 inch. Spread the almond mixture evenly over the crust. Dry the pear slices on a clean tea towel or paper towel and arrange them in a symmetrical design on top of the almond mixture. Dot each pear slice with a dab of butter before placing the pan in the oven for approximately 45 minutes. Do not be alarmed if the almond mixture rises unevenly during the baking process, it will fall when the tarte is out of the oven cooling. After removing the baked tarte from the oven, place a couple of tablespoons of apricot jam in a sauce pan to melt, then use a pastry brush to lightly brush the tops of the pears with the melted apricot jam. This apricot glaze, (along with the "e" on the end of Tarte) , is my nod to the French, who often use this technique with fruit tarts. Run the end of a thin knife around the edge of the tarte before removing the sides of the springform pan.

I decided that I really should not foist this unproven recipe on my guests without tasting it first, so took a little slice to eat with my tea. It's good. I'm planning on serving it tonight with a strong flavoured cheese.