members recipes

While I was living in Fontainebleau Tarte Normande was one of my favorite desserts. In one of the bakeries I frequented it was just incredible. I tried it once and got addicted forever. Since then I was almost never able to leave this bakery without a piece. That is my replication of the Tarte Normande at home.

Ingredients
200 g pâte sablée (French short pastry) see the recipe here
http://fooodstory.blogspot.com/2011/03/petits-sables-french-butter-cookies.html

3 pears
3 tbs lemon juice
80 gr sugar

for the frangipane:
80 gr butter
80 gr ground almonds
70 gr sugar
1 egg
1 tbs calvados
1 tbs flour
few drops almond extract

Method
Peel, core and quarter the pears. In a medium pan dissolve the 80 gr sugar in a cup of water. Add the pears, bring to boil and cook under a lid for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and let the pears cool down in the syrup.

To make the frangipane stir together the butter and 70 gr sugar. One by one mix in the egg, ground almonds, flour. Add the calvados and almond extract.

Roll the pastry into a circle and cover a buttered 22 cm round baking dish with it. Fork the pastry. Pour in the frangipane and even the layer. Take the pears out of the syrup and dry them slightly. Place the pears on the frangipane and press them down. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Bake at 200C for 20 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 180C and bake for another 20 minutes (40 minutes in total). Take the tart out of the oven and let cool a bit inside the baking dish.

Reduce the pear syrup for around 1/3 and brush the tart with it to make it glossy. Serve warm on its own or with vanilla sauce or ice-cream. This time I served it with my favorite caramel sauce, though it might be a bit too sweet for it.

More pictures:
http://fooodstory.blogspot.com/2011/04/tarte-aux-poires-normande-french-pear.html

Related posts:

Petits sablés (French butter cookies)
http://fooodstory.blogspot.com/2011/03/petits-sables-french-butter-cookies.html

The perfect vanilla sauce
http://fooodstory.blogspot.com/2011/03/perfect-vanilla-sauce.html

Salted caramel sauce
http://fooodstory.blogspot.com/2011/03/salted-butter-caramel-and-baskin-robins.html