Looking for a dessert that looks and tastes amazing, but takes relatively little time to make? Try a Pear Almond Tart. It’s beautiful, delicious and very simple.
I made this tart for a Thanksgiving potluck, along with Shepherd’s Pie and Roasted Cauliflower with Sage. It was the perfect dessert for the occasion. It’s substantial, but not super filling, which is a great way to end an abundant meal.
The only trick for me was the almond meal. I couldn’t find almond meal in any local stores, so I ended up making my own. This was by far the most time-consuming part of making this dessert.
Almond flour isn’t a good substitute. It’s more finely ground than almond meal and will absorb moisture differently. It may be that making my own almond meal fresh for this dessert improved the quality of the overall end product.
In case you have the same challenges finding almond meal, here’s how I did it:
- Measure out 1/4 cup of almonds.
- Place the almonds in a food processor or blender.
- Buzz until finely ground. Be careful not to process for too long or your almond meal will turn into almond butter.
- Sift the processed almonds into a bowl.
- Return the almond pieces that were too big to sift to the blender or food processor (you could also use a spice or coffee grinder at this point).
- Sift again.
- Repeat the whole process however many times it takes until you have 1/4 cup of almond meal.
Pear Almond Tart
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour, sifted
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 Tbs. melted extra virgin coconut oil or vegetable oil, plus more to grease pan
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. almond extract
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 1/2 lb. ripe Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Put It Together:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil 9-inch tart pan or 14- x 4-inch pan with removable bottom, and set aside.
- Stir together almond meal, oat flour, and baking powder in medium bowl.
- Whisk together maple syrup, oil, egg, vanilla and almond extracts, and salt in medium bowl. Stir syrup mixture into almond meal mixture, and transfer to prepared pan.
- Arrange pears in circle or line over cake surface, and bake 22 to 25 minutes or until edges are golden.