Pear Tart with Poire Williams
Pear Tart with Poire Williams
Pastry:
1 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
½ C. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut small
1½ T. sugar
pinch salt
2-3 T. ice water
Filling:
5 medium-ripe pear halves, peeled and cored
5 T. sugar
4 T. (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 T. Poire Williams or other pear liqueur (optional)
Glaze:
1/3 C. apricot jam
2 T. Poire Williams (optional)
Garnish:
Whipped cream
Poire Williams (optional)
To make the pastry, process the flour, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, add enough of the water for the dough to gather into a ball. Remove from the machine, dust with a little flour, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Roll out the dough into a 12 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Line a 9 inch tart pan with the dough. Trim and crimp the edges. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Freeze while the filling is being prepared.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To make the filling, cut each of the pear halves crosswise into slices as thin as possible, maintaining the shape of the pear half by keeping the slices in place. Fan 4 of the pear halves in the tart shell, filling in the gaps with the fifth pear half. The slices should be arranged so that they look like a large blossom. Sprinkle the pears with the sugar. Cut the butter into small bits and dot the pears with the butter. Sprinkle with the Poire Williams.
Bake until the pears are caramelized and the crust well browned, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. While the tart is baking, make the glaze. Heat the apricot jam and Poire Williams in a small saucepan until melted and smooth. Spoon the glaze over the baked tart. Cut the tart into wedges and serve warm, topped with a dollop of whipped cream flavored to taste with Poire Williams
Makes 8 portions
