Caramelised Pear Tarts

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

PASTRY
PASTRY CREAM
PEAR PUR.E
PEAR TOPPING
TOFFEE SAUCE
Pastry:
Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5. Beat the lemon juice and egg with
2tbsp iced water, then chill until thickened. Sift the flour, icing
sugar and salt into a bowl, then rub in the butter until the mixture
resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the chilled liquid and stir until the mixture binds to form a
loose dough. Turn out and knead lightly until smooth. Wrap and chill
for 30 minutes.
Pastry cream:
Put the cream in a saucepan. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the cream,
add the pod, then bring the cream to the boil.
Blend the yolks, flour, cornflour and sugar in a bowl. Gradually pour
the hot cream on to the yolks, whisking continuously. Rinse the pan
and return the mixture to a low heat. Cook gently, stirring until
thickened. Remove the vanilla pod and cover with buttered greaseproof
paper or clingfilm to prevent a skin forming.
Pear pur.e:
Cook the sliced pears gently in a heavy based pan with the sugar,
lemon zest and 1tbsp water until the pears collapse and form a puree.
Remove the lemon zest and discard. Stir in the brandy or liqueur.
Taste and add more sugar if necessary.
Pear topping:
Divide the pastry cream between the tarts. Top with 1tbsp of pear
pur.e in the centre. Peel, core and halve the whole pears. Slicing
diagonally from the bulbous end of each half but keeping the stalk
end intact, fan out the slices.
Put a pear half on top of each tart, rounded side up with the base
fanned out. Sieve icing sugar generously over the pears. Bake in a
hot oven 220C/gas 7 for 10-12 minutes to caramelise the pear. If the
fruit does not caramelise quickly enough and rather than leave it in
the oven too long when the pastry may suffer, either dredge with
icing sugar and caramelise carefully under a hot grill or give it a
quick blast with a blow torch to achieve the golden tinged effect.
Serve with a small bayleaf at the stalk end of each pear.
Toffee sauce:
Blanch the walnuts, place in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
Bring to the boil, then drain Rub the skins from the nuts, then chop
roughly.
Place the caster sugar in a saucepan with 3tbsp water. Heat gently
until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to the boil. Boil rapidly
until the syrup becomes a deep caramel colour.
Quickly whisk the cream and butter into the caramel. The sauce will be
lumpy at first but keep whisking and it will become smooth and glossy.
Stir the chopped walnuts into the sauce.
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