Spiced Pear Tart Recipe

(9 servings)

8 oz Diced Cold Butter
2 oz Diced Cold Butter
1/2 c Ice Water
1 tsp Sea Salt
2 c AP Flour
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6 Ripe Baking Pears (like Anjio or Bartlett)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Allspice
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 c Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tbsp flour

Dough
Add salt to ice water.  In a food processor place flour and add 2 oz of cold, cubed butter.  Pulse 12, one-second pulses.  Add remaining butter and pulse twice to distribute.  Add water/salt and pulse 4 times, just until dough starts to form a ball. DO NOT overwork dough.  Flour the work surface and form in a general rectangle.  Place between two pieces of plastic wrap.  Flatten dough with rolling pin by pressing down.  Roll dough to make a 12″ x 18″ rectangle.  Peel one side of the plastic wrap and place exposed side down on floured work surface.  Peel away second piece of plastic wrap.  Sprinkle/distribute 4oz of cold butter in the middle third of the dough.  Fold the top one third of the rectangle down over the middle third.  Sprinkle/distribute remaining 4oz of cold butter in the middle third of the dough.  Fold the bottom third of the rectangle over the middle third.  Turn the rectangle and roll dough going up once and going left once and going right once.  Place dough between two new sheets of plastic wrap (top and bottom).  Fold top third over middle third.  Fold bottom third over middle third.  Chill in refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Fruit
Peel pears, remove stem and bottom, slice in half and core pear with melon baller.  Slice 9 pear halves into thick slices.  Mash 1 1/2 pears into chunky sauce in a bowl and mix in spices, sugar, salt and apple cider vinegar.  Take a teaspoon and pour over the top about a 1/2 tsp per sliced half of pear of the juice from the pear mash mixture.

Assemble and Bake
Unfold the dough and cut (4) 1/2″ strips from the top of the rectangle of dough.  Place dough (now square) on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Create a frame of dough on the square by laying down strips of dough on each side of the square, creating a border or frame.  Dock the middle of the dough square with a fork, making holes in the center of the frame.  Pre-bake tart crust in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.  Add the tbsp flour to the pear mash and mix until well combined.  Take crust out of oven and spoon the pear mash all over the inside of the crust frame.  Lay pear halves, three across – three down over the inside of the crust frame.  Place tart back into 400 degree oven for 5-7 minutes until crust is puffed and golden brown.

Serve immediately with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.