Warm pear tart
Warm pear tart
Celeb Chef Challenge Recipe by Matt Moran
Ingredients
100g marzipan
1 egg white
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp plain flour
1 sheet puff pastry, trimmed to 30cm x 18cm (slightly rolled with
pin)
4 Bosc pears
50g unsalted butter, melted
50g caster sugar
400ml water
200g caster sugar
10ml Pernod
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 lemon, juice only
4 paradise pears
1/4 Double cream, lightly whipped
Apple puree
2 large apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
200 g castor sugar
250 g sauternes (water can be exchanged)
1/2 vanilla bean
Caramel Sauce
200 g caster sugar
200 ml cream
100 g butter
Crumble mix
100 g butter
130 g plain flour
50 g castor sugar
5 g ground ginger
1. First make the caramel sauce. In a saucepan heat the caster
sugar until it turns a dark brown colour; this will take 1-2
minutes. Remove from the heat, add the cream and butter and whisk
until all the ingredients have come together. Chill over an ice
bath until required.
2. For the apple puree, split the vanilla bean in half and
scrape the outsides. Place all of the ingredients into a saucepan
then cover with aluminium foil. Bring the ingredients to a simmer
and cook for approximately 10 to 15 minutes until soft. When
cooked, drain the excess liquid,
remove the vanilla bean then puree with a stick blender. Pass the
puree through a fine sieve then chill over an ice bath until
required. Spoon into a squeeze bottle.
3. Pre-heat oven at 200 degrees C (180 degrees C). In a bowl
beat the marzipan, egg white, vanilla extract and flour until
smooth. Roll the puff pastry out onto a floured work surface to a
rectangle about 16cm by 22 cm, the pastry should be no thicker than
half cm. Place the pastry onto a baking paper-lined tray. Spread a
thin layer of the marzipan all over the puff pastry.
4. Peel the Bosc pears and cut in half through the stem and
core. Using a teaspoon or melon scoop remove the core. Slice the
pear halves about 2-3mm thick. Lay the pear slices over-lapping
each other onto the puff pastry. Cover all the pastry with the
pear. Sprinkle over the sugar and melted butter and bake the pastry
in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes.
5. Whilst the tart is cooking bring to the boil the water,
sugar, Pernod, fennel seeds and juice of half a lemon. Peel and
remove the core from the paradise pears, place in the syrup and
simmer until tender; this will take approximately 10 minutes.
6. For the crumble mix, Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Place all the ingredients into a bowl then rub the butter into the
dry ingredients until a bread crumb consistency has been achieved.
Place covered in the fridge until required.
Place the crumbs onto a baking tray and bake in the oven until
golden brown. Continually check the crumble mixture while it is
baking to ensure they cook evenly.
7. Remove the tart from the oven. Spoon over half of the
caramel sauce evenly over the tart. Place a sheet of baking paper
on top of the tart and then place a baking tray on top. Flip the
tart over so the sliced pear would be on the bottom of the tray.
Return to the oven and cook for a further 10-15 minutes. Remove the
tart from the oven and flip over again. Remove the tart from the
baking sheet to a chopping board. The pears should be golden brown
and caramelized.
8. Squeeze a line of the apple puree along the plate in a zig zag
no wider than the tart. Cut the tart into fingers 3-4cm by 7cm.
Stack 2 slices of the tart on top of each other and place on the
line of puree. Drain the paradise pear place on a plate. Spoon a
teaspoon of the cold caramel sauce onto the plate and drag it
slightly. Next place one spoon of the crumble mix on plate,
quenelle a spoonful of cream and sit on top of the crumble.
Using a paring knife cut a tiny slit into the pear and poke in a
frond of fennel in the pear and serve.
