Italian Pear and Cranberry Tart

I usually make something with pears during the holiday season, but this holidays season was so busy, and I made so many other wonderful dishes, that I just couldn’t squeeze anything else in. Until now. It is still kind of the holiday season, so it still counts, right?! Although, I love pears and pears are good any time of year, so you don’t have to wait for the holidays to prepare this scrumptious dessert.

I made an Italian pear and cranberry tart with chopped pecans. It was very good, and quickly disappeared. That’s what I like to see.

I started with a pate sucre, or a sweetened basic tart dough. The only difference is a pate sucre has about 3 TBPS of powdered sugar added to the dough while it is being made.

Pate Sucre Dough

1 1/2-1 3/4 cup flour

6-TBSP cold butter, cubed

3 TBSP powdered sugar

dash of salt

1 egg

5-6 TBSP heavy whipping cream

Put the flour, butter, salt and powdered sugar into a food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds, or until it resembles sand. You can use a pastry cutter if doing it by hand too. Then add the egg and the cream and blend until it all forms into a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 24 hours before rolling it out to shape your pan.

Pear and Cranberry Tart

You can use either walnuts or pecans, but since I am not a huge walnut fan, I always substitute pecans for walnuts.

pute sucre dough

1/4 cup dried cranberries, soaked in warm water for at least 20 minutes, drained

3 pears, peeled and sliced very thin

2 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP almond flour

3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

2-3 TBSP cold butter, cut into pieces

1/3 cup apple, apricot or peach jam or preserves

1 tsp almond extract

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and press firmly into a fluted tart pan. Sprinkle the almond flour and sugar around the bottom of the dough.

Arrange the pear slices around the pan, then top with the cranberries and chopped nuts.

Melt the preserves (I used peach and Amaretto preserves) until they are are completely liquid, stirring constantly so they don’t burn. Turn off the heat then add the almond extract and combine thoroughly.

Spoon the preserves over the top of the fruit and carefully spread it out evenly to cover the top. Then scatter the butter slices around the top of the tart.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until the edges are just lightly browned.

Let the tart cool completely before removing it from the pan and dusting it with powdered sugar. Then slice it up and enjoy it with friends. This tart is not overly sweet, but is just sweet enough, especially with the powdered sugar, and perhaps a little whipped cream or ice cream on the side too.

I cut my pieces very small because I was serving it to a lot of people, for my coffee cart. It literally just melts in your mouth. !Delizcioza! !Mangia!

Have a great day Everyone. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.