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Poached pear halves fanned into almond cream in a sweet shell — the tarte Bourdaloue, named for a Paris street. It is the most useful pattern in French home baking: frangipane accepts almost any fruit, bakes into it, and solves the water problem that plagues open fruit tarts, because the almond cream absorbs what the fruit gives up.

What makes it work
  • Frangipane is 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 — butter, sugar, ground almonds and egg by weight, plus a spoonful of flour. See bakewell tart.
  • Poach the pears, or use tinned. Raw pear releases water into the almond cream and stays hard. Poaching in syrup with vanilla takes 20 minutes and is the difference between a good tart and a mediocre one. See pears.
  • Drain and blot the fruit thoroughly before it goes on.
  • Slice each half crosswise and fan it, pressing gently so it sits into the cream rather than on top.
  • Fill the shell only two-thirds. Frangipane rises.
  • Apricot glaze at the end — warmed, sieved jam brushed over the hot tart — is what gives it the pastry-shop shine.

Ingredients

One 23 cm tart. Serves 10.

  • 1 blind-baked shell — pate sucree
  • 4 ripe pears, peeled, halved and cored, or 8 tinned halves

Poaching syrup: 800 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 lemon, juiced · 1 vanilla pod

Frangipane:

  • 125 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 125 g caster sugar
  • 125 g ground almonds
  • 2 eggs plus 1 yolk, about 125 g
  • 25 g all-purpose flour
  • 3 g fine salt
  • 1 tbsp rum, optional

To finish: 40 g flaked almonds · 100 g apricot jam, warmed and sieved

Method

Poach the pears in the syrup at a bare simmer for 15–20 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Cool in the syrup, then drain and blot dry.

Blind bake the shell. Set the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F.

Cream the butter and sugar two minutes, beat in the eggs and yolk one at a time, then fold in the almonds, flour, salt and rum.

Spread the frangipane into the shell, two-thirds full.

Slice each pear half crosswise into 5 mm slices, keeping the shape, and slide a palette knife under each to lift it onto the tart. Fan them out from the centre and press very gently.

Scatter flaked almonds around the edge and bake 40–45 minutes, until golden and set.

Brush with warm apricot glaze while still hot.

Notes
  • Apricots, plums, cherries, figs, rhubarb and apple all work in the same frangipane; see Apricot, plums, Fig and Rhubarb.
  • Frangipane keeps five days refrigerated and freezes for three months, which makes this a very fast tart if the components are ready.
  • Keeps three days at room temperature.

Elsewhere on the site

Method and theory: Pie and tart recipes · pies and tarts · Almonds · pears

Nearby: bakewell tart · tarte tatin · fruit galette