Dec 17, 2010

The Absence of Autumn with Bosc Pears Tartelettes

After the last weekend of extreme stormy weather, it’s safe to say winter has arrived to Tel Aviv. Having to give up on autumn this year, we’ve waited for the rain so much, that when it finally arrived we soon wished it will go away, cause we’ve remembered that Tel Aviv’s apartments are definitely not constructed for anything but nice or sticky weather. So with no real autumn, my favorite of all seasons, all that’s left is to trust that sadly the Israeli winter won’t be that harsh anyway, will go away in a split second, and soon we’ll find ourselves “enjoying” summer for another 7-8 months of the year...

With a very long absence on my account too, I’m finally posting my not-so-up-to-date autumn post, with hope I’ll catch up soon to some more wintery ones.

I found those amazing Bosc Pears in the market two weeks ago and decided to pair them with some classic baked almond cream tartelettes. So long in their necks, aristocratic in all pears, Bosc pears (Beurre Bosc) have a dark cinnamon brown color skin and a white aromatic juicy interior, perfect for baking.

I first made the pears in vanilla syrup, and then baked them with almond cream in some almond cinnamon short dough shells. The smell of them coming out of the oven is priceless, but since I made the recipe solely for this blog, I’ve soon found myself in the middle of the day, alone with eight of them in the kitchen, and no one to share the odors and craving to break one before shooting. I did enjoy one with my husband later that night, and they heat up really good, but if you can, bake them fresh, and enjoy soon... nothing compares.

And for last, a recommendation. Miri Hanoch and Eyal Shany’s new column in “Time Out Tel Aviv”, is a real treat to read. With her witty smart writing and his recipes and realistic food photos they combine to some really joyful food articles, that were missed since their writings for “Musaf Haaretz”.

More posts more frequently ahead..., I promise.


Bosc Pears Tartelettes

for 8 individual Bosc Pears tartelettes

you can make the short dough, almond cream and pears in vanilla syrup the day before and store in the refrigerator till you assemble the tartelettes.

Almond Cinnamon Short Dough

300 gr. white flour
80 gr. almond meal
80 gr. powder sugar
1 cinnamon stick, scraped, or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 lemon zest
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Put flour, almond meal, powder sugar, scraped cinnamon stick and lemon zest in the mixing bowl.

Blend with the guitar attachment on low medium speed till coarse crumbs appear.

Add the eggs and vanilla essence and beat on medium speed just till a dough forms (don’t over beat).

Wrap the dough in plastic, flat it with your hand to make a disc, and refrigerate it for minimum 2 hours.

Flour your workspace and roll the dough in 4 batches to about a 1/4 inch thick. Cut circles that are bigger than your tart rings, and press the dough gently with your fingertips to the bottom and sides of the rings. Flatten the edges of the rings with a rolling pin to remove excess dough. Freeze the dough in the rings for about 1/2 hour in the freezer.

Heat the oven to 175℃.

Take the tart rings out of the freezer and arrange on a tray with a baking paper. Line each ring with a piece of baking paper larger than the ring and place some baking weights or dried beans to flatten the paper to the sides and bottom.

Bake blind for about 20 minutes. Remove the paper and baking weights and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the tart shells are baked and pale golden. Take out of the oven, and leave the shells to cool in the tart rings.


Almond Cream

100 gr. butter, softened.
220 gr. (1 cup) white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
200 gr. almond meal
30 gr. white flour
1 tbs amaretto liqueur

In the mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar with the guitar attachment on medium speed.

Add the egg and egg yolk, and beat till thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour and almond meal. At low speed add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, and beat till thoroughly combined.

Mix in the amaretto liqueur.

Transfer to a sealed box or bowl and refrigerate for about 2 hours.


Bosc Pears in Vanilla Syrup

8 bosc pears, peeled, halved and seeded, leave the stems.
1/4 cup lemon juice
400 gr. white sugar
800 ml. water
1.5 vanilla beans, split and seeds scraped.

Put the bosc pears in a bowl and rub them with lemon juice.

Put sugar, water and vanilla seeds and beans in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Mix until sugar dissolves, and bring to a boil.

Add the pears with the lemon juice carefully to the pan, and bring to a second boil on medium heat. Cook for 10 more minutes.

Remove from heat and leave in the pan for about 10 minutes.

Transfer the pears with the syrup to a sealed box and refrigerate till use.


to assemble the tartelettes:

Heat the oven to 180℃.

With the tart shells still in their rings, fill each shell with cold almond cream too about 3/4 high. Flatten the cream with a back of a tablespoon.

Take the bosc pears carefully out of the syrup, and arrange 2 halves on each tartelette, each pear’s neck facing another direction. press the pears a bit inside the almond cream.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the shells are golden brown, and the cream is puffed and stable.

Serve immediately! the tartelettes stay fresh for one day. If you wish to keep them longer, than refrigerate, and reheat for 10 minutes on 180℃ in the oven. Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Vanilla Syrup
    שכמותך!
    תודה על עוד פוסט נפלא
    כהרגלך עטפת בחום וביתיות

    לא מבטיחה לנסות את המתכון ((:
    חבל להרוס כל כך הרבה מוצרים
    אבל בהחלט אזמין טארטלט עגסים על הקפה הבא שלי בחוץ

    ReplyDelete