I can hear the wind blowing through the leaves outside, and it makes me feel warm inside. Fall is finally settling in here, and I’m so excited to get into my cozy sweaters and wrap myself in scarves. Living in California, our autumns and winters are probably pretty mild relative to other parts of the country, but not really knowing anything else, they feel cold and nippy to me. I am weak, I know. And fall desserts are certainly another favorite way for me to keep warm. While pumpkin recipes abound in the blogosphere (all of them looking so yummy), I thought I’d opt for something with pear this time, which can be just as gratifying when the temperature dips. I wasn’t able to find something with pear specifically from my favorite cookbooks, but I did find this recipe from Martha Stewart (seems she often has the answer for everything). With three soul-warming flavors in this tart–chocolate, almond, and pear–I’m ready to face our cold, harsh California fall and winter seasons. 🙂
Recipe notes: Martha’s original recipe uses ground almond only, but because I had extra almond paste that I wanted to use up, I substituted some of the ground almonds with the almond paste (it was an equal swap: 4 oz. almond paste for 4 oz. ground almonds). It came out with a very nice soft texture. I also didn’t need to add almond extract since the almond paste was already so aromatic. I used a springform pan instead of a tart pan because I thought the batter looked too liquid, and I was concerned about it leaking. Also, don’t forget to butter the pan really well–I didn’t so when I tried to get the tart out, parts were sticking and then I cracked the tart, sadly.
Ingredients
- 4 oz. (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 oz. (1/2 cup) almond paste
- 4 oz. (1/2 cup) almond flour or ground almonds
- 4 oz. (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3 oz. (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1/2 t. salt
- 2 firm pears
- 2 T. apricot jam (or apple jelly)
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees and butter a 9″ springform pan.
- Beat together using a paddle attachment on medium all ingredients until just combined.
- Peel pears, then cut in half to core and slice. Make 1/4″ slices.
- Pour batter into the pan, then arrange pear slices in a concentric circle on top with pressing them down.
- Brush the top of the pears gently with the jelly (warming it up a few seconds in the microwave is helpful).
- Place in the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes; a cake tester should come out almost completely clean.
- Allow the tart to cool completely in the pan. Serve at room temperature.
