No-pastry pear and almond tart
Ingredients
• 2 cups red wine
• 1 cup caster sugar
• Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 3 Packham pears, peeled, halved and cored
• 225g unsalted butter, chopped, softened
• ½ cup demerara sugar
• 75g plain flour
• 200g icing sugar mixture
• 150g almond meal
• 6 eggwhites
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• Whipped cream, to serve
Method
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Preheat oven to 180°C. Put wine, caster sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a simmer. Add pear, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes or until pear is just tender. Remove pear from syrup using a slotted spoon. Set aside.
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Increase heat to high and boil syrup for 8 minutes or until syrupy. Set aside to cool. It will thicken slightly on standing.
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Grease a 22cm round, loose-bottom fluted tart tin with 25g of the butter and sprinkle with demerara sugar to coat. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Put remaining butter in a small saucepan and melt over a medium heat, then cook for 3 minutes or until butter turns golden brown. Dip base of saucepan in bowl of cold water to stop cooking process. Pour butter into a large bowl.
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Sift flour and icing sugar into melted butter and whisk until smooth. Stir in lemon zest and almond meal. Whisk eggwhites and cream of tartar in a large bowl until soft peaks form, then fold into butter mixture. Spoon mixture into prepared tart tin, spreading evenly. Put tin onto an oven tray.
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Using a small knife, make thin cuts in pears to create fans, leaving top of pear intact. Arrange 5 pear halves on top of tart, reserving remaining half for another use.
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Bake tart for 35 minutes or until golden and just set. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Remove tart from tin and transfer to a serving plate. Drizzle red wine syrup over top of tart. Serve with whipped cream on the side.
