Pear Almond Tart Recipe

If you've never tried a pear-centric dessert before, then you sure are missing out. Pears commonly go overlooked, but they are a delicious fruit, full of subtly sweet flavors and juiciness. This pear almond tart recipe, courtesy of recipe developer Eric Ngo, also incorporates the rich, nutty flavors of sliced almonds, resulting in a dessert that looks elegant and tastes amazing. No matter what you serve for dinner, there's no doubt that this tart will delight your family or guests as the perfect post-meal pastry.

"My favorite thing about this recipe is its simplicity and how travel-friendly it is," Ngo says. Indeed, it is a simple dessert recipe, with just three components — the crust, filling, and layered pears — making up the dish. As for the flavor of this tart, Ngo describes it as "nutty, buttery, and fruity," which sounds like a pretty perfect dessert in our book. You can finally give those apples, blueberries, and cherries a break and let pears (and almonds!) shine in this beautiful dessert. 

For this recipe, you'll need a pre-made pie crust, an egg, some butter, sugar, almond meal, 2 pears, and some almond shavings. "William pears are recommended for this dessert," Ngo advises. "In general, we are looking for soft and juicy pears. You can also use canned syrup pears!"

Before jumping into this recipe, preheat your oven to 350 F. Then, grab the tart pan and lay the pie crust out on top of it. Press the crust down into the crevices of the tin, and be sure to cut off any excess crust. Once the crust is settled into the tin, pop it into the fridge to chill while you work on the other steps of this recipe.

In a large bowl, add the butter, almond meal, and sugar. Cream these ingredients together with a spatula until they're thoroughly combined. Next, add in the egg and mix once again, until you have a smooth, creamy filling. Place the filling into the fridge to chill.

"I think the most challenging part might be making the almond cream 100% smooth," Ngo says of this step. "In order to achieve this, you must use softened butter and cream it well with the sugar and almond meal before adding the egg." He also stresses the importance of chilling the filling for at least 30 minutes before pouring it into the pie crust, so don't skimp on time during this step!

Peel the pears, remove their cores, then cut them each in half, lengthwise. Then, slice each pear into ½-inch slices, as shown in the image.

Grab both the pie crust and the almond cream from the fridge. Layer the cream into the bottom of the tart, then fan the pear slices out in four even sections (so, you can use ½ pear for each section). Sprinkle the almond shavings on top, then bake the tart for 25 minutes. Once the tart is done baking, allow it to cool for 15 minutes, then you can slice into it, serve, and savor in the flavors. 

"I recommend a dry white wine to go along with this dessert," Ngo suggests for a pairing option, adding that vanilla ice cream would complement the dessert as well. As for leftovers, you can simply reheat slices as you would any type of pie, and enjoy the flavors of this pear almond tart all week long.