Pear and Almond Tart 洋梨のタルト

It may look fancy, but this French-style Pear and Almond Tart is easier to make than you‘d think. You can even make the almond cream (frangipane) and tart shell ahead of time. It‘s an elegant dessert for your next party or a delicious snack for tea time.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I’d like to share one of our favorite fall dessert recipes using seasonal fruits; and that’s Pear Almond Tart or Pear Frangipane Tart (洋梨のタルト).

With homemade sweet tart crust and seasonal pears on top of the creamy and delicious almond cream filling, this tart is an excellent dessert to enjoy at tea time or after a meal.

3 Easy Steps to Make Pear and Almond Tart

This tart requires 3 steps. The best part about this dessert is that you can prepare a tart crust and almond cream filling much ahead of time (not just a day before). So if you’re making this tart for Thanksgiving, plan out how much time you will need for other savory dishes and make a time window to make a tart crust and almond cream filling.

Step 1: Make Homemade Sweet Tart Crust

Wait, do we have to make a tart crust from scratch? Yesssss! Well, you don’t have to, if you want to save time and use a store-bought tart crust. But if you never made a homemade tart crust before, let me persuade you to make one with me today, at least once!

Imagine this. When you eat a tart from a good pastry shop, you wonder why it’s so delicious. I believe half of the deliciousness comes from those buttery, crumbly, cookie-like crusts (and the other half is the filling). This homemade tart crust tastes so much better than a store-bought tart shell that you’d swoon over by it. Trust me, it is totally worthy of your time to make a homemade tart from scratch.

At this step, we prepare the pastry dough and then partially bake the tart crust before filling it with the almond cream mixture. If you’re ready to read the process, hop over to my Sweet Tart Crust recipe with detailed step by step pictures.

Step 2: Make Almond Cream (Frangipane) Filling

Frangipane (or frangipani in Italian, crème frangipane in French) is an almond-flavored sweet pastry cream used as a filling in tarts, cakes, and assorted pastries. It is made of creamed butter, sugar, eggs, and finely ground almonds.

This step is really easy peasy, and the greatest advantage is you can make it ahead of time (3 days prior to baking)! So whenever you have time, you can prepare it and store in the refrigerator. I find it so convenient when you are multi-tasking, especially during the crazy Thanksgiving week.

Step 3: Assemble and Bake!

The final step comes down to an assembly of the sweet tart crust, almond cream, and fresh pear slices and the baking in the oven. Your kitchen would start smelling so amazing with the delicious Pear Almond Tart being made in the oven!

Best Kinds of Pears for Pear and Almond Tart

The best pears for Pear Almond Tart are Bartlett and Anjou. Barlett pears start arriving at farmers markets and your grocery stores in late summer. They’re soon followed by Bosc and Comice which are in season in the fall through winter. Then Anjou, which is a winter pear. Get Barlettt or Anjou for this tart recipe depending on the season you’re making.

Almond Flour & All Purpose Flour from Bob’s Red Mill

This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill®. I couldn’t be any more thrilled when I get to work with Bob’s Red Mill® to develop this Pear and Almond Tart recipe.

As an employee-owned company, Bob’s Red Mill® uses high-quality whole grains to satisfy all vegan, paleo, and gluten-free friendly cooking and baking needs. From almond flour, cake mixes, coconut flour to various grains, it offers the largest lines of organic, whole grain foods in the country. You can be assured that all of its products are certified Kosher and made with ingredients grown from non-GMO seeds. If you’re curious, you can go to the website and learn more about the founder, Bob Moore and his mission too.

To achieve the perfect texture for the Pear Almond Tart, I used Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour and Super-Fine Almond Flour from Bob’s Red Mill®. Because it is sifted to a very fine texture, their flours are fantastic for all baked goods.

The All-Purpose Flour is unbleached, unbromated, enriched baking flour milled from the highest quality North American wheat. The Super-Fine Almond Flour is made from the finest California-grown almonds, which have been blanched and ground to a fine meal that is ideal for gluten-free baking.

You should be able to find their flours at any major grocery stores. Alternatively, you can also buy it on Amazon.

Behind the Scene Side Note:

On the day when we had to photoshoot this Pear and Almond Tart, I’ve noticed that my favorite anodized aluminum tart pan was missing. I discovered later on that it fell behind the stacked cake pans in the cabinet above my refrigerator, but being 5 feet tall, the pan escaped my sight completely.

So I had to bake this pear and almond tart in my non-stick tart pan, which I don’t have a good relationship with. Despite using the exact same recipe, my tart crust tends to shrink when it’s baked in it (cursed!).

You can see the same sweet tart crust baked in the non-stick tart pan (shown in this Pear and Almond Tart recipe) and in the anodized aluminum tart pan (shown in my Sweet Tart Crust recipe). 

Despite the minor kitchen mishap, the tart still tastes heavenly. The sweet filling and the homemade buttery crust are all that made the difference. If you’re looking for a show-stopper dessert for your holiday table this year, you want to make this Pear and Almond Tart.

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Pear and Almond Tart

4.80 from 115 votes

It may look fancy, but this French-style Pear and Almond Tart is easier to make than you‘d think. You can even make the almond cream (frangipane) and tart shell ahead of time. It‘s an elegant dessert for your next party or a delicious snack for tea time.

Print Pin

Prep Time: 45 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 1 9–10 inch (23–25 cm) tart

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 Homemade Sweet Tart Crust (9–10 inch, 23–25 cm; you can follow my recipe)

For the Almond Cream

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick, 8 Tbsp; at room temperature)
• ▢ 1 cup confectioners’ sugar (or substitute ½ cup, 100 g granulated sugar)
• ▢ 1 cup almond flour
• ▢ 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
• ▢ ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• ▢ 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature)
• ▢ 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 Tbsp rum (optional)
• ▢ 1 tsp almond extract (increase to 1½ tsp if you skip the rum)

For the Pears and Toppings

• ▢ 3 Bartlett or Anjou pears (small; you can also use canned pear halves, drained and dried well)
• ▢ ½ lemon
• ▢ 3 Tbsp apricot jam
• ▢ 1 tsp confectioners’ sugar (for serving)
• ▢ 1 Tbsp sliced almonds (for serving)

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

Before You Start…

• I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. For weights, click the Metric button above. If you‘re using a cup measure, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more than you need. Also, I encourage you to check your oven‘s temperature with an oven thermometer, as the actual temperature inside may differ from the display setting.

To Make the Sweet Tart Crust

• Make 1 Homemade Sweet Tart Crust that‘s “partially baked“ following my recipe. Cool the pastry case before filling. Make in advance: You can make the partially-baked crust ahead of time, then wrap well and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can also refrigerate it for up to 1 week or freeze it for up to 2 weeks.
  

To Make the Almond Cream Filling (Frangipane)

• Gather all the ingredients. Take out the butter and eggs from the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature. If needed, soak the cold eggs for 5 minutes in warm (not hot!) water until they reach room temperature. Tip: Cold eggs will reduce the temperature of the butter, making emulsion difficult.
  
• In a large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream ½ cup unsalted butter (at room temperature and softened).
  
• Add 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and mix well until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
  
• Add 1 cup almond flour, 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour), and ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and mix well.
  
• Add 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) one at a time. Incorporate well into the mixture before adding the next egg. Tip: Make sure you add them gradually. Adding the eggs all at once inhibits emulsion, and results in a “scrambled-egg“ appearance.
  
• Add 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp almond extract, and 1 Tbsp rum.
  
• Whisk until homogenized and smooth. Make in advance: You can keep the almond cream in the refrigerator for up to 3–5 days or in the freezer for weeks.
  

To Assemble the Tart

• Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Heat 3 Tbsp apricot jam and 1 Tbsp water in the microwave for 10 seconds until liquified. Brush a thin layer of the jam on the bottom of the empty pastry crust to prevent a soggy bottom. Reserve the remaining jam for later. Then, fill the tart crust with the almond cream, smoothing out to the edges with an offset spatula. Refrigerate for 30 minutes until set.
  
• Meanwhile, peel 3 Bartlett or Anjou pears, cut each in half lengthwise, and scoop out the cores.
  
• Cut each half crosswise into ⅛-inch (3-mm) slices. Rub the pears with the juice from ½ lemon to prevent browning.
  
• Take out the tart from the refrigerator. Gently press each pear half on the work surface to fan out the slices toward the stem/top end. Transfer the pear halves one at a time by sliding the knife under each one.
  
• Arrange each pear half on top of the filling with the tapered (stem) end pointing toward the center of the tart. The slices should fan and lean toward the center. Make sure to leave space around the pear halves so they are not touching, as the filling will puff up and they need room to expand.
  

To Bake the Tart

• Bake the tart at 375ºF (190ºC) until golden brown or a bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the filling comes out clean, about 40–45 minutes.
  
• Remove the tart from the oven and let cool in the pan on the wire rack. Brush the pears with the leftover apricot jam. Once it’s cool, carefully unmold the tart.
  

To Serve

• Toast 1 Tbsp sliced almonds in a frying pan (no oil) until golden, about 5 minutes.
  
• Sprinkle 1 tsp confectioners’ sugar and toasted almond slices on top, if desired, and serve slightly warm. Cut into wedges and enjoy!
  

To Store

• Store the tart in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Slightly reheat the tart before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 9 inch tart · Calories: 3499 kcal · Carbohydrates: 368 g · Protein: 56 g · Fat: 210 g · Saturated Fat: 80 g · Trans Fat: 4 g · Cholesterol: 616 mg · Sodium: 1164 mg · Potassium: 1122 mg · Fiber: 36 g · Sugar: 204 g · Vitamin A: 3662 IU · Vitamin C: 57 mg · Calcium: 468 mg · Iron: 13 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pie and tart

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