It may look fancy, but this French-style Pear and Almond (Frangipane) Tart is easier to make than you‘d think. It‘s an elegant dessert to serve at your next party.

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
Ingredients
- 1 Homemade Sweet Tart Crust (9–10 inch, 23–25 cm)
- 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)
- 3 Bartlett or Anjou pears (use smaller ones possible; You can use canned pear halves instead. Drain the canned pears and dry them well before using them.)
- ½ lemon
- 3 Tbsp apricot jam
- 1 tsp confectioners’ sugar (for sprinkling)
- 1 Tbsp sliced almonds (for sprinkling)
Instructions
To Make the Sweet Tart Crust
- Make 1 Homemade Sweet Tart Crust that‘s “partially baked“ by following this step. You can make the tart crust ahead of time.
To Make the Almond Cream Filling (Frangipane)
- Gather all the ingredients. Make sure to take out the butter and eggs from the refrigerator and keep at room temperature. If the eggs are too cold when you add to the mixture, they reduce the temperature of the butter, making emulsion more difficult. Adding the eggs all at once also inhibits emulsion, and results in that scrambled egg appearance. You can soak the cold eggs for 5 minutes in warm (not hot!) water, but it‘s best to take out both butter and eggs out from the fridge earlier.
- In a large bowl, cream the softened ½ cup unsalted butter.
- 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 and incorporate into the mixture.
- Add 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp almond extract, and 1 Tbsp rum.
- Whisk until homogenized and smooth. The almond cream can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 to 5 days or frozen for weeks.
For the Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Melt 3 Tbsp apricot jam and 1 Tbsp water in the microwave for 10 seconds until liquified. Apply the jam on the base of the cooled pastry case to prevent soggy bottom. Reserve the jam for later. Fill the baked tart crust with almond cream, smoothing out to the edges with an offset spatula, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.
- Meanwhile, peel 3 Bartlett or Anjou pears, cut each in half lengthwise, and scoop out cores.
- Cut each half crosswise into ⅛-inch (3-mm) slices. Squeeze the lemon and rub the pears with the juice from ½ lemon to prevent browning.
- Take out the tart crust from the refrigerator. Gently press each pear half to fan out toward the stem/top side. Slide the knife under pears and transfer to the almond filling.
- Arrange the top with points facing in and pears fanning out toward the center. Make sure to space pears out so they are not touching, as the filling will puff up and they need room to expand.
Bake the Tart
- Bake the tart at 375ºF (190ºC) until golden brown or the bamboo skewer inserted into the center of 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.
- 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!
Storage
- The tart can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Slightly reheat the tart before serving.
I have a ton of asian pears from my CSA, will those work in this recipe?
Hi Alycia! Although I’ve never used Asian pears for this particular recipe, I think you can use them. 🙂
[…] Pear Almond Tart […]
I made the tart last night, but I kept looking over your recipe to try and find out how much sugar to use in the frangipane. I couldn’t find it, so I looked at another recipe for the sugar content. In the end , it was too sweet. Could you please separate your recipe between the crust and the frangipane? Thank you.
Hi Judy! You have to click the link “1 sweet tart crust (9-10 inch, 23-25 cm)” in the Recipe Card to get the recipe, so the sugar used for the crust is NOT mentioned in this recipe.
Here’s my tart crust recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tart-crust/
[…] Pear and Almond Tart […]
I just made this and it is SO yummy! I was worried because the sugar and butter didn’t turn into a corn-meal texture, it was just like creamed butter. However, I just kept going with the recipe and it turned out aaaaamazing! I don’t really know how to fit 3 full sized pear-halves in there (maybe get thinner ones next time?), and just got two on. Either way this was such a great dessert and not too sweet at all 🙂 PS I made pie crust for the first time using your sweet tart crust recipe! It’s a keeper!!!
Hi Jean! I’m really happy to hear you liked the recipe! I used smaller pears from Trader Joes as I’ve used bigger pears and it was a tight fit. Thank you for the kind words. 🙂
I made this for Christmas dinner. What a lovely dessert!
Thank you for the great photos and detailed directions.
Hi Marjie! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! I’m so happy yours came out well! 🙂
Made this today! Turned out great! May use less confectioners’ sugar next time by .25 cup less. Still tasted good with the recipe amount of sugar + tea. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for trying this recipe! So glad your tart came out well. Thanks so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami. I plan to make your pear tart and have question on the crust. If I buy the store-bought pie crust, should I pre-bake it, put the filling, and bake it again? Or can I put the filling in the crust and bake it altogether?
Thanks!!
Hi Janti! A lot of people bake it all together (no blind baking), so that’s okay too. I don’t like my crust to be soggy, so I like to blind bake first. 🙂 This filling is not too liquidy, so it shouldn’t be too bad, if you don’t blind bake. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks Nami!! Hope it turns out good. ????
Hi Nami! I’ve already made this twice now, and will possibly make it a third time to bring over for xmas dinner! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. 🙂
Hi Sarah! AWWW 2 times already! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe (I do too!). Thank you for writing your kind comment. Your comment made my day! xoxo
Hello nami, exactly how long do you have to pre-bake (bake blindly) the pastry crust?
Hi Ruth! Thanks for bringing to my attention. It should be partially baked, which should be an additional 5 minutes, after removing the pie weights. So 25 mins total. 🙂
Hi Nami! I’m excited to be making my first tart with a homemade crust for Thanksgiving! I’ve got my dough disks and filling in the fridge :-). My question is how baked should the crust be before I put the filling in…just blind baked? Not baked at all? Partially baked?
Thanks for this and all your great recipes!
Hi Micki! So sorry for my late response. What type of filling? Is that required to bake/cook? If so, do partial bake (or not bake). I mentioned that I like particial bake because I like crispy tart crust not soggy ones. Read “What is Blind Baking?” section in my tart recipe post. 🙂
Thank you Nami! I’m referring specifically to the pear almond tart filling. I’m doing the blind baking now. Given it also will bake when filled I’ll leave it at that, unless you say to go ahead and partially bake after blind baking. I will fill it and finish it Thursday.
Hi Micki! Oh okay so you are making the pear and almond tart. Then partial bake for tart. And when are you ready to bake, fill the filling and then finish baking for 40-45 mins until golden. Hope I answered clearly. If you have a last min question, tweet me (i get too many emails to spot your question). Good luck!
The tart was a HUGE HIT! We ate it too fast to take a picture. Thank you for all your help Nami!
Hi Micki! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you very much for your kind feedback. Don’t worry about taking a picture. It’s a great sign. 😉
Is it ok to use a regular pie crust for this dessert?
Hi Astrarria! Sure, if you have your favorite pie crust recipe, sure, you can do that. 🙂
Hi Nami, pear tart is my favorite dessert! I am going to try this!
Would you recommend using pears that are more ripe or more firm?
Thanks,
Jo
Hi Jo! I hope you will like this recipe as much as we do! It’s firm enough to peel the pear without a struggle, and when you eat it, it should be tender. Am I making sense….?! 🙂
Yes thank you! I’ll try it and report back!
Jo
Hi Nami, just wanted to let you know that the front page of your email says “Pear and Apple Tart”. (That might be a nice combinations as well 🙂 )
Hi Jerry! UGH. I just saw it (and never caught my mistake). I’m happy to know someone actually read my newsletter carefully (I always wonder if people read my newsletter carefully hahahah). Anyway, too late to fix, but thank you for letting me know. I have to be careful and always triple check!
Wow this tart looks amazing! I’m not too fond of frangipane (even though in France it’s ultra famous) but with pears I bet it tastes better and less heavy in mouth. Totally should try this for Christmas instead of the usual galette des rois
Thank you so much for your kind words, Andrea! It’s actually quite light. I prefer less sweet and lighter desserts. 🙂