Pear Frangipane Tart

This year for Easter, Mom requested I make the delicious pear tart we served at Careme's for our family Easter celebration.

She wanted the little versions we made, but unforutantely, we didn't have the appropriate tart pans needed to make them.  I probably could find them at a restaurant supply store, but time was of the essence; so i adapted the recipe with what I had.  Instead of the mini tart pans, I made a large 9" pear tart in a springform pan.  A springform pan is ideal, because the sides can be removed from the bottom.  You could use a pie dish, though you will have to keep it in the dish for service.

You can make your own delicious Pear Frangipane Tart just like at Careme's by following these simple recipes.  The basic components are: Short Dough, Frangipane (an almond filling), and Pears.

Short Dough

Short dough is a very basic cookie dough also called 1, 2, 3 Dough...you need 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, and 3 parts flour.  Also the general rule of thumb is 1 egg per pound of flour.  The 1, 2, 3 ratio can be applied to any measurement (pounds, ounces, cups); so for one cup of sugar, use 2 cups of butter, and 3 cups of flour.  For this pear tart, I used the following formula.  I ended up with enough dough for 2 tart shells.

• 8 ounces sugar (1 1/8 cup)
• 1 pound of butter (4 sticks)
• 1 1/2 pounds of flour (1 3/4 cups)
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp Pure vanilla extract

Short dough is best made on the mixer AND by hand.  On 2nd or medium speed, use your mixer to cream the butter and sugar together.  The butter should be soft, but still a little cold.  Add the egg and vanilla in 2 parts and scrape the bowl after each addition and incorporate well.  Add the flour in about 3 parts and incorporate it by hand.  You can use the mixer to mix in the flour, but it is incredibly easy to over mix it (which will make for a very tough cookie crust).  After mixing, let the dough rest for a bit before use (start prepping everything else for your tart while the dough rests).  Refrigerate if it has gotten too warm while mixing.  Short dough is a lot easier to work with when it still has a chill to it.

Frangipane

Frangipane is a sweet, almond flavored filling used for tarts as a base for its main filling (usually fresh fruit) and as a barrier between the fruit and the short dough.  It's mainly 2 parts almond paste, 1 part butter, eggs, sugar, and cake flour.  For a 9" pear tart, you'll probably use about 8 ounces of Frangipane or less if you want a thinner layer.

• 8 ounces Almond Paste (available in baking section of most supermarkets...I found some at our local ACME...it is qutie expensive though!)
• 4 ounces Butter (1 stick)
• 1 1/2 ounces sugar (a little less than 1/4 cup)
• 2  eggs
• 1 1/2 ounces cake flour, sifted (a little more than 1/4 cup)
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla/Almond extract (optional)

Combine the almond paste and sugar in a mixing bowl with paddle until smooth.  Make sure there are no lumps of almond paste or your filling will be lumpy!  Add butter and cream on 2nd speed until it is light and smooth.  Add eggs in 3 parts and scrape between additions.  Fold in the cake flour by hand.  The filling should be like a thick batter.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and save for later use.

Pear Tips

Use your favorite type of pear, but the juicier the pear, the more it will lose its shape when baked (it will take longer to bake as well).  A Bosc pear is ideal as it will keep its shape and has a strong pear flavor.

Now that all the parts of the tart is made, we can start putting together the tart!

1.   Roll out the dough with a a diameter that is large enough to cover the bottom of your springform pan and the sides of your tart.  For a 9" pan, it should be about 12" in diameter.  Spray your pan with non-stick cooking or baking spray for easier removal.
2.  Crimp the edges of the tart shell with the tines of a fork.
3.  Spread the frangipane filling with an offset spatula.  This was a bit difficult with the pan I was using because the pan had such high sides.

4.  Use a peeler to remove the waxy skin of the pear and slice the pears about 1/8" - 1/4" thick.  Keep your slices in the order you cut them so the sizes are not askew when arranging.  Make sure you have the rounded side showing.

5.  Fan out the pears and go around the tart in layered circles until you reach the middle.  I used about 3 Bosc pears to fill the tart.

 6.  After arranging all the pears, sprinkle with a 25% cinnamon and 75% sugar mixture.  I added a little nutmeg to make it more interesting.

7.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 minutes.  The time will depend on the type of pear you use.  The short dough crust should have barely any color to a deep golden color.  For juicier pears, you might end up with a darker crust.
8.  Serve immediately or serve cool.  The pear tart goes great with a scoop of ice cream!

BONUS:
So rather than make a 2nd tart with the remainder of the short dough, I decided to make mini mini tarts with what we had in the fridge.  I used a cupcake pan to mold the tartlets and sprayed the pan with non-stick spray.  For even portions, use a circle cutter larger than the diameter of each well of the cupcake tray.  I still need to invest in circular cutters, so I improvised by using my Mickey Mouse cutter.

You can crimp the edges with a fork as with the large tart for aesthetic appeal.  You will see holes on the bottom of my short dough in the above picture.  This is called docking, and is typically done so the dough bakes flat.  Short dough does not typically puff up, but it's a precaution in case air pockets developed under the dough as you fill the pan.

I filled the tartlets with what I had in the fridge: fresh straberries and mango on a dollop of cream cheese icing.  These last minute desserts were the hit of our Easter dinner!  I think it's because you can never go wrong with cream cheese icing.

- Sandwich

Pastry Demons and their Fancy Pants Desserts

(Continued from "Under Pressure" Tuesday, April 11th)...

Speaking of pressure, it didn't help that Melissa and I had been out of the pastry loop for the past 6 weeks, as we had been in two introductory hot foods classes for our degree program.  Thank goodness Aleisha had taken Careme's before, so at least she was there to help us understand how the class worked.  Basically, you have all morning to prepare anything you might need for that afternoon's service.  The prep work was a big guessing game as we had no idea what would get ordered, even if the guests would order dessert at all.

When first reading the dessert menu, the work ahead seemed gargantuan:

- Pear Frangipan Tart with Spiced Plum Ice Cream, Cinnamon Syrup, Honey-Almond Tuiles

- Chocolate Lava Cake with a chocolate liquid center, Dried Cherry Compote, and Mocha Anglaise

- Ginger Crème brûlée topped with Stone Fruit Chutney and Mint Chiffonade

- Ice Cream Trio (3 different ice cream flavors) with Honey-Almond Tuiles

Not only were we tasked to make four desserts, each dessert had multiple components.  Some things were easy: like mint chiffonade, just pick some mint from our backyard herb garden and chop into strips; and cherry compote, chop up this and that, add cherries, mix it all together.  But oh good gravy, it's been at least six months since we made ice cream in class, and a year since we did frangipan and tuiles!  Now was not the time to freak out. We had to dust off the cobwebs from the basic pastry corner of our brains and remember how to make a classic french style ice cream, using real cream and none of that processed, fakey substitute ice cream you find at the supermarket.

As my old chemistry teacher used to say, "Plan the work and work the plan!"  We made up a list of essential things to get done the first day in time for service the next day when the restaurant would be open.  We agreed to set to work making the basics, like short dough for the pie tarts and a batch of frangipan, a classic French, sweet, paste-like filling made of almond, sugar, flour, eggs, and butter.  Meanwhile, Melissa and I reviewed the method of making Creme Anglaise, the mother dessert sauce of the pastry kitchen so to speak.

From Creme Anglaise, you can make custards, like Creme Brulee, and French Vanilla Ice Cream, or any ice cream for that matter (we'll be making Creme Anglaise and turning it into ice cream for a future "Whip of Dole").  From multiple batches of anglaise, we were able to get the Mocha Anglaise sauce made, Crème brûlée prepped, as well as 4 flavors of ice cream (Spiced Plum, Mocha, Chocolate, and good ol' Vanilla).

Melissa, Aleisha, and I really surprised ourselves those first few days of Careme's.  After the freaking out, and asking ourselves "Uh, what the heck are we doing?" on the first day, we successfully made each of the desserts on the menu.  The skills we had learned in our classes, leading up to making desserts for a real working restaurant, came back like magic.  Chef would occasionally check up on us and ask, "How are my little pastry demons doing?"  We would reply with a spoonful of deliciousness.

He found our chocolate ice cream and spiced plum ice cream to be, and I quote, "Phenomenal."  Though all the credit can't go to us. Chef gave us such a great guiding hand and helped us realize his vision for these desserts, while also letting us get a little creative with our own ideas.  He was really pleased that we did such a great job those first few days, and that the restaurant could serve some fancy pants desserts made by actual student pastry chefs.

I still can't get over the fact that we made this happen.  I don't like to toot my own horn, but we really rocked it out at the pastry station!  As they say, a picture's worth a thousand words:

Pear Frangipan Tart with a scoop of Spiced Plum Ice Cream, a drizzle of cinnamon syrup, Honey-Almond Tuile corkscrew, and a sprig of mint for color

Chocolate Lava Cake with Dried Cherry Compote on a pool of Mocha Anglaise.  We got confused and put the chiffonade mint on this one, but it was a happy accident as it came out nice!

 Chef's special recipe: Ginger Crème brûlée with Stone Fruit Chutney and Mint Chiffonade.

Ice Cream Trio with Honey Almond Tuile. This was actually probably the 4th day, as only one person ordered the trio the 1st day of service and I forgot to take a picture.  Seen here is our Watermelon Sorbet, Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream.

Stay tuned for future adventures from Careme's, with Chef's Pastry demons; haha.

- Sandwich