Pear Tart with Almond Pastry Cream
In her new cookbook French Kitchen Lessons: Recipes & Stories from Normandy’s Rabbit Hill Farm, Cat Bude explores a common fantasy that she actually lives. In 2010, Bude upped sticks in Northern California to move her pregnant self, her two kids, her husband, three cats, and three dogs to Normandy to be nearer to her French in-laws. The adventure that ensues is one of architecture (finding the right house and then making it livable) and one of culture. Through her father-in-law—a retired chef—and the vendors at her local weekly markets, Bude learns how to think like a French cook: how to cook in season using what the fields and markets offer. The result, French Kitchen Lessons, is a stripped-down primer full of life lessons: Make the stocks. Don’t fear sauces. Duck isn’t daunting. And butter will always be your friend.
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
1 re cipe pâte sablée pastry (see below)
7 ta blespoons / 100 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
⅓ cup / 40 grams sugar
¾ cu p / 100 grams almond flour
3 tablespoons rum (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 medium-size ripe Anjou pears, skin on, sliced into eighths
Whipped cream for serving
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry into a 10-inch round, about ⅛ inch thick. Fit the pastry round into an 8-inch tart pan. Roll the excess pastry around the rim and crimp the edges, then chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the almond filling.
Using a mixer, combine the softened butter, eggs, sugar, and flour and mix until creamy. Add the rum, if using, and the vanilla. Take the pastry from the fridge and spread the almond filling evenly across the pastry with a spatula. Press the sliced pears into the almond cream.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden. Serve with whipped cream.
Pâte Sablée
INGREDIENTS
½ cup / 110 grams cold butter
¾ cup / 150 grams sugar
2 cu ps / 240 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring surface
⅓ cup / 30 grams almond flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
PREPARATION
Cut the butter into small cubes. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and all-purpose and almond flours. Add the butter and rub the mixture between your hands (or lightly pulse if using a food processor), until a sandy mixture is formed. Add the egg and mix until combined.
Knead the dough on a floured surface, until it begins to form a ball. If the dough becomes sticky, you can pop it back into the refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes before continuing.
