Sunday, December 11, 2011

Il gusto rustico - Easy baking - Pear tart

I know most people can appreciate a nice dessert, baking one however is usually cause for distress. Distress usually caused by the silly idea that baking is extremely hard and requires an insane amount of patience and precision, thing that is not always the case. Yes, yes, there is measuring involved in this recipe but let's be honest here, if you can pour and see lines, you probably can get the proportions just right. Also what I like about this particular dessert is that it requires no "complicated" frosting design or silly decorations. This is just a plain delicious dish anyone can make easily.One could even use a refrigerated store bought pie dough roll, although making this from scratch is really easy to do as well.
Here is what you will need :
For the crust :
 1 cup of all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons of buttermilk
3 tablespoons of ice water
For the filling you will need:
3 ripe pears
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon and 1 tsp of corn starch
1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon



If you choose to make your own crust here are the directions:
In a food processor mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add the pieces of butter and pulse until mixed into a coarse mixture. In a bowl combine the buttermilk and the ice water and then slowly add them to the flour mixture. Pulse until evenly combined. Remove the dough from the processor and pat it into a 4 inch round, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
In the meantime preheat the oven to 425 degrees and start preparing the filling.
Peal and core the pears and cut them into 1/4 inch slices. Place them in a bowl with the lemon juice,brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch. Toss until evenly coated and set side.
Roll the refrigerated dough into a 9 - 10 inch round and place it onto a parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Arrange the pears in the center leaving about 2 inches of dough all around. Fold the border over the pears only covering them partially. Pinch the border on the corners to make it stick together.
I brushed the crust with an egg wash to help it turn nice and golden. An egg wash is simple a beaten egg with a little water added to it.
Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes then Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake without opening the oven for another 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven. I combined 1 teaspoon of honey with 1/4 tsp of boiling water and brushed the crust and filling with it for an extra little hint of sweetness. Allow to cool and ENJOY!