Simple, beautiful and delicious: The three most important qualities for a successful baking project. It doesn’t always turn out that way however. We’ve all been there.. elbow deep in cookie dough on step eleven of some fussy recipe. The Kitchen Aid mixer is blasting on full speed and beads of sweat are dripping down our brows from attempts to maintain masterful multi-tasking. It doesn’t help that the kitchen is slowly turning into a Norwegian sweat-lodge as oven temperatures escalate in conjunction with our blood pressure levels.
Sometimes there is no better feeling than conquering a tricky recipe, however. It almost feels like winning a battle! But overall, fussiness leads to messiness and madness (in my experience!) Gotta rid ourselves of that life-junk, right? Calm, cool and collected is the name of the game, especially when doing something that should induce happiness and joy, like baking!
Today’s Chocolate Pear Tart meets all of the requirements as listed above. It is equally beautiful and delicious with a fudgey and light cake-like texture. The tart is flourless/gluten-free and its use of almond flour creates a delicate and lingering nutty flavour that complements the cutting edge of the tart’s rich chocolatiness.
Before popping the tart into the oven, I had fun decorating it with a little Bartlett-pear sun star! If you want to recreate this design, gently layer the slices on top of each other and decorate in a circular motion to make the same kind of star!
I busted out this tart on a whim for a relaxed family get together we had last week. It was easy to transport to the dinner, was super gorgeous to show off and most importantly my fam raved about it. It’s funny because I can always tell when things are hits or misses with my most discerning and adoring crew. My family does rather well at maintaining a rather honest candor when faced with a forkful of B.O.T. The love was reigning true with this one however! Especially when we heaped generous scoops of Earnest Icecream’s whiskey hazelnut snugly next to slices of this tart. Can’t go wrong with a little added ice cream, right?
Chocolate Pear Tart
Yield: 1 tart. Bake: 350F. Prep and bake time: 1.5 hour.
Ingredients:
120ML unsalted butter, room temperature. 1 cup almond flour OR finely ground almonds in a processor 3/4 cup sugar 3 large eggs 1/3 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder (Fryes) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp almond extract (opt.) 3 firm, ripe Bartlett pears 1/2 lemon 2 tbsp apple jelly/butter
Directions:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan with butter; set aside.
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In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, combine sugar, almond flour (or ground almonds), butter, eggs, cocoa, vanilla, salt, and almond extract, if using; mix until combined. Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan.
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Peel, halve, and core pears; cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, rubbing them with lemon as you work (to prevent discoloration). Arrange slices on chocolate mixture, slightly overlapping, without pressing in.
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Place pan on a baking sheet; bake until top is puffed and a toothpick inserted in center of chocolate mixture comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
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Briefly heat jelly in the microwave or on the stove until liquefied. Gently brush pears with jelly; let set, at least 20 minutes. Remove tart from pan, and serve.
Recipe Credit: Adapted from Martha Stewart
I hope you enjoy your chocolate tart, but most importantly I hope you enjoy making it! It’s all in the process and the journey my friends. ;)
Have a great month ahead! What are you up to? I am looking forward to going on a road trip into the mountains with some friends in a few weeks! Also, I’ve taken up gardening and I am struggling at it. We’ll see if my plans survive through April!
PS: This article: power of awe. / the meaning of life?
PPS: tacos
PPPS: Have courage and be kind. (To yourself most importantly my loves.)
Blue Owl Treats 