These fresh pear almond cream tarts are a delicious way to use incorporate plentiful harvests of fruit!
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Our church has been continuing to bless us with fruit and today Asian pears got to take the spotlight! I have always loved Asian pears but, due to my digestive issues, I’m not able to eat them raw. However, I have found, quite fortunately, that I’m able to enjoy most fruits (and vegetables) if they have been cooked first. This Fresh Pear Almond Cream Tart fits the bill perfectly!
While having never baked with Asian pears before, my first thought was to make fresh pear almond cream tarts. I made a rich pastry crust for the tart shells, filled my baked tart shells with an almond cream and topped them with fresh Asian pear slices.
Arrange the fresh pear slices on the almond cream filling to make a pretty pattern or place them in a thin layer. Either way, you can’t go wrong!
Fresh Pear Almond Cream Tarts
Ingredients
Rich Pastry Tart
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or gluten free flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter cold
- 1 egg
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or milk alternative
Almond Cream Filling
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 3/4 cup butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1-2 Asian pears sliced
Instructions
Rich Tart Pastry Crust
- Stir together the flour and butter. Cut cold butter into the flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add one egg and one tablespoon milk. Slowly stir mixture together until it forms a call. If necessary, add the additional tablespoon of milk. Divide the dough into four parts for individual shells or don't divide it for a 9" tart shell. Roll out the dough and press into tart shells. Prick the dough with a fork and-or use pie beads to keep the shells from bubbling and shrinking. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.
Almond Cream
- In a small bowl, sift together dry ingredients. In a stand mixer, or hand mixer, cream together butter and vanilla until soft and fluffy, then incorporate the dry ingredients. Add the egg and mix until smooth.
Assembling the Fresh Pear Almond Cream Tarts
- When the shells are done baking (should be still be light in color), remove from the oven and fill with the almond cream. Arrange peeled and thinly sliced Asian pear slices on top. Bake at 325 F for 35-40 minutes or until the crust and filling are golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar and serve!
Tips For Making A Flaky Tart Crust
Mix together your dry ingredients very well before adding any type of liquids, which in this case is just flour. Cut in the cold butter. It’s tempting to want to melt the butter for ease of use, but these little cold pockets of butter are what melt in the baking process and cause little holes in the dough. These holes are what makes the crust flaky! Once you add your egg and liquid, be careful to not overwork your dough. Mix until blended and only roll out the dough once. The more the dough is worked, the “tougher” it becomes.
Variations for Fresh Pear Almond Cream Tarts
- Substitute the fresh pears with a fresh fruit of your choice. With this particular recipe, I would recommend apples, or regular pears. You could also use peaches or berries!
- Substitute the almond flour in the cream filling with a different nut flour. I would recommend not using coconut flour since it is so very absorbent.
- Use a pre-made pastry shell for the tart shells.
Need a Gluten-free Option?
The recipe is nearly gluten-free already, except for the crust! To make this gluten-free friendly, simply substitute a gluten-free flour blend of your choice. I, personally, use this one and it turns out great!
What fresh fruit tarts have you made?
Let me know in the comments what your favorite fresh fruit tarts are!
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