Pear Croustade with Lemon Pastry and Almonds
A elegant French-style rustic tart featuring two types of pears wrapped in a lemony butter pastry and topped with toasted almonds. The flaky crust encases tender Bartlett and Bosc pears spiced with nutmeg and brightened with fresh lemon.
Ingredients
- •1½ cups all purpose flour
- •2 tablespoons sugar
- •1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
- •½ teaspoon salt
- •½ cup chilled unsalted butter
- •¼ cup whipping cream
- •1 pound Bartlett pears
- •1 pound Bosc pears
- •5 tablespoons sugar
- •1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- •2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- •1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
- •¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- •2 tablespoons whipping cream
- •2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- •vanilla ice cream
Cooking Instructions
- 1.
Whisk flour, sugar, lemon peel, and salt in medium bowl. Add butter; using fingertips, rub in butter until coarse meal forms. Drizzle 1/4 cup cream over; toss with fork until moist clumps form, adding more cream by teaspoonfuls as needed if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling out.
60 min
- 2.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix all pears, sugar, flour, lemon juice, lemon peel, and nutmeg in large bowl to coat. Roll out pastry on sheet of floured parchment paper to 14-inch round. Transfer crust on parchment paper to baking sheet. Mound pears in center of pastry, leaving 2-inch plain border. Fold pastry border over pears, crimping slightly. Brush pastry edges with cream; sprinkle with sliced almonds.
20 min
- 3.
Bake croustade until filling bubbles and almonds are lightly toasted, about 1 hour. Cool slightly. Serve croustade warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
60 min
