We’ve now officially bid goodbye to summer and to those wonderful fruits which it brought along. Saffron colored luscious mangoes, puckery, sweet,  juicy cherries, plums and apricots have disappeared from the market. While I feel content to some extent, having done some beautiful recipes with them {at least some of them if not all; mango, cherries, plums}, I wish they would have stayed longer.

Probably, I could have explored more. And it leaves me wanting them to come back next year. We’ve now ushered into the new season with newer and fresh seasonal produce. Pears are in abundance now. Carts are loaded with them and shelves are overflowing. You just can’t ignore them.

And how could I, when I have been eagerly waiting for them to come. Especially, when I had missed baking this frangipane tart with cherries, plums and apricots too. With stone fruits, it remained in the wishlist only, probably to be picked up next year. I have picked this recipe from Martha Stewart and adapted it to my taste.

Ingredients

Pate Brisse

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon salt
100 gm unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1/8 – 1/4 cup ice water

Pear Tart

Pate Brisse {recipe follows}
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2  cup blanched almonds
3/4 cup honey
1 egg
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 pears chored, thinly sliced lengthwise

Instructions

For pastry:

1. Mix both the flours with salt. Add butter and rub with your fingers to create crumb like mixture.
2. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix well to make a dough until it comes together. Make sure not to over knead.
3. Turn out the dough on to work surface, press to make a flat disc, wrap with cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For tart:

1. Take the pastry out of fridge and roll it out thin so as to make a 12 inch round {you can roll the pastry between two cling wraps to avoid using extra flour}
2. Fit dough into a 9-inch removable bottom tart pan lifting into and pressing up sides.
3. Cover with parchment paper and fill the tart with baking beans and bake for 10 -12 minutes in 180 C preheated oven.
4. Meanwhile, for almond cream, whiz the almonds in a food processor to make a fine powder.
5. In a bowl cream the butter, sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
6. Fold in almond meal. Fill the almond cream mixture into the pre-baked tart shell and and level using a spatula.
7. Top with pear slices and bake in 180 C preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until crust is golden brown.
8. Remove from pan and cool before serving.