I fell in love with Valentine Warner’s recipe for raspberry and peach tart that he made as part of his ‘what to eat now – more please’ series a little while ago the first time I made it. It’s the most tasty, sweet, happy-inducing tart ever I think, and I’ve made it loads of times.
The best thing about it is that it can be adjusted to whatever fruit you can get that’s in season, so while raspberries and peaches are great in summer, it was especially great with figs or plums, and you can experiment with different jams, too. This time, having a large number of pears to use up, I figured another version of this versatile delight should be on the cards, but this time with honey.
I have to say from the start that (sorry Valentine) I don’t use the pastry from the recipe – firstly because I think it’s rich enough without using a pastry with egg in, and secondly, because my mum is the queen of pastry. I have honestly never tasted such incredible, melt in the mouth, crumbly, light pastry as my mum’s, so naturally, I’ve got to make sure I can carry on this family tradition.
I make the quantities in the recipe but because I don’t have a 25cm flan tin, it usually makes enough for two smaller tarts. For the first time, I’ve tried freezing one to see how it behaves – I don’t see why it should do anything nasty but will update if it does.
It’s labour intensive but definitely worth it – despite being a long wait it’s very easy, impressive and can be adapted. It can be eaten hot or cold and keeps for a good few days, although it won’t last that long with hungry people around. What more could you want from seasonal food eh?!
Makes about enough for two tarts, 18-20cm
Pastry
8oz plain flour
5oz unsalted butter
½ oz caster sugar
pinch salt
1-2 tablespoons water (as little as you can get away with!)
Rub the flour and the butter together with your fingers in a bowl. Needs to be like fine breadcrumbs, just how your mum taught you. Mix in the sugar and salt, then add a tablespoon of water and start to bring together a dough with a round edged knife. Be quite vigourous! If you need more water, add a little more, but keep mixing and mixing and it’ll start to come together. Don’t add too much water or it’ll be chewy. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 20 mins.
Chop into two and roll out on a floured surface. It’ll be quite short so be gentle! Lift the pastry into one of the tins, gently push down into the tin and trim off any excess. Prick the base a bit with a fork. Line with baking paper and baking beans. Do the same with the other one.
You need to bake the pastry blind – basically just giving it a head start over the filling. Cook it at about 180 for around 10 mins, then remove the paper and beans and give it another 5 mins or so. You don’t want it to look cooked.
Filling
185g golden caster sugar
185g butter
2 eggs
80g flour
135g ground almonds
pinch salt
½ - 2/3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
a couple of pears, nice and ripe
honey
some flaked almonds
Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients together (I do this on the scales). Add one of the eggs, the vanilla extract and about half the dry ingredients; mix well. Do the same with the other half.
Peel the pears and slice them quite thinly – not too thin so they’ll disintegrate but not too thick that they’re chunky. Put a layer of the sliced pears on the bottom of the pastry case (doesn’t need to be neat), and drizzle over a bit of honey. Divide the frangipane between the two tins and spread out gently, taking care not to move the pears too much. Then place another layer of pears on top of the almond mixture, this time a bit more neatly. Drizzle some more honey over.
Bake them at about 170 for around half an hour. Sprinkle some flaked almonds over the top, then return to the oven for about another half hour. How long the take to cook really depends on the size of the tin and the thickness of the tart, so just keep an eye on them – when they’re done the frangipane will be spongy and bouncy to the touch.
I served this pear version warm with vanilla ice cream. It’s also super nice with mascarpone mixed with some vanilla seeds scraped out of the pod. Or cream!
The best thing about it is that it can be adjusted to whatever fruit you can get that’s in season, so while raspberries and peaches are great in summer, it was especially great with figs or plums, and you can experiment with different jams, too. This time, having a large number of pears to use up, I figured another version of this versatile delight should be on the cards, but this time with honey.
I have to say from the start that (sorry Valentine) I don’t use the pastry from the recipe – firstly because I think it’s rich enough without using a pastry with egg in, and secondly, because my mum is the queen of pastry. I have honestly never tasted such incredible, melt in the mouth, crumbly, light pastry as my mum’s, so naturally, I’ve got to make sure I can carry on this family tradition.
I make the quantities in the recipe but because I don’t have a 25cm flan tin, it usually makes enough for two smaller tarts. For the first time, I’ve tried freezing one to see how it behaves – I don’t see why it should do anything nasty but will update if it does.
It’s labour intensive but definitely worth it – despite being a long wait it’s very easy, impressive and can be adapted. It can be eaten hot or cold and keeps for a good few days, although it won’t last that long with hungry people around. What more could you want from seasonal food eh?!
Makes about enough for two tarts, 18-20cm
Pastry
8oz plain flour
5oz unsalted butter
½ oz caster sugar
pinch salt
1-2 tablespoons water (as little as you can get away with!)
Rub the flour and the butter together with your fingers in a bowl. Needs to be like fine breadcrumbs, just how your mum taught you. Mix in the sugar and salt, then add a tablespoon of water and start to bring together a dough with a round edged knife. Be quite vigourous! If you need more water, add a little more, but keep mixing and mixing and it’ll start to come together. Don’t add too much water or it’ll be chewy. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 20 mins.
Chop into two and roll out on a floured surface. It’ll be quite short so be gentle! Lift the pastry into one of the tins, gently push down into the tin and trim off any excess. Prick the base a bit with a fork. Line with baking paper and baking beans. Do the same with the other one.
You need to bake the pastry blind – basically just giving it a head start over the filling. Cook it at about 180 for around 10 mins, then remove the paper and beans and give it another 5 mins or so. You don’t want it to look cooked.
Filling
185g golden caster sugar
185g butter
2 eggs
80g flour
135g ground almonds
pinch salt
½ - 2/3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
a couple of pears, nice and ripe
honey
some flaked almonds
Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients together (I do this on the scales). Add one of the eggs, the vanilla extract and about half the dry ingredients; mix well. Do the same with the other half.
Peel the pears and slice them quite thinly – not too thin so they’ll disintegrate but not too thick that they’re chunky. Put a layer of the sliced pears on the bottom of the pastry case (doesn’t need to be neat), and drizzle over a bit of honey. Divide the frangipane between the two tins and spread out gently, taking care not to move the pears too much. Then place another layer of pears on top of the almond mixture, this time a bit more neatly. Drizzle some more honey over.
Bake them at about 170 for around half an hour. Sprinkle some flaked almonds over the top, then return to the oven for about another half hour. How long the take to cook really depends on the size of the tin and the thickness of the tart, so just keep an eye on them – when they’re done the frangipane will be spongy and bouncy to the touch.
I served this pear version warm with vanilla ice cream. It’s also super nice with mascarpone mixed with some vanilla seeds scraped out of the pod. Or cream!
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