Dahlia Pear Tart with Caramel Sauce

For Poaching Pears:
3 small to medium size pears, ripe but firm, such as Bartlett or Bosc                 
4 cups water
2 cups sugar  
1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise

One batch Rough Puff Pastry (see below). Or substitute about 1 pound commercial puff pastry.


For Almond Cream:
3 Tablespoons  almond paste
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg yolk

Caramel Sauce (see below)
Sweetened Whipped Cream (see below)

To poach the pears, peel the pears and cut them in half lengthwise.  Trim out the stem and blossom end and remove the core using a melon baller or paring knife.  Combine the water and sugar in a large saucepan.  Add the vanilla bean and pears.  To keep the pears submerged while they poach, put a piece of parchment or wax paper on the surface and weight it with a plate or small lid.  Place the saucepan over high heat.  When the liquid comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer.  The amount of time it will take to poach the pears depends on their ripeness, probably between 15 to 20 minutes after the pears come to a simmer.  Test by poking a pear with the point of a small knife.  As soon as pears are tender but not mushy, remove the pan from the heat.  Allow to cool in the liquid.

To make the Almond Cream, mix the almond paste and sugar using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer.  The mixture will look crumbly.   Beat in the butter, bit by bit.  Add the egg yolk and mix until creamy and smooth. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the Rough Puff Pastry into a 9 x 15 inch rectangle.  Trim with a knife to straighten the edges.  The dough should be about 3/8 of an inch thick.  Don’t roll it too thin or it won’t puff.  Cut into 6 squares, about 4½ inches on a side, i.e., cut the 9-inch length of dough in half to make two 4 1/2-inch strips, then cut the strips 3 times into squares.  Place the squares on a parchment lined baking sheet and set it in the freezer.   Freeze the puff pastry squares at least 10 to 15 minutes before assembling and baking.

Preheat the oven to 425º F.  Remove the baking sheet of pastry squares from the freezer and spread about 2 teaspoons of Almond Cream in the center of each pastry square.  Remove the pears from the poaching liquid. (You can save the poaching liquid for poaching other fruit or discard.)  Dry the pears on a clean kitchen towel, then slice each pear-half lengthwise in 1/4-inch slices. Lift each sliced pear-half with a spatula and place it over the Almond Cream, fanning it gently.  

Set the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Slip another baking sheet underneath to “double pan” and protect the  bottoms of the tarts, then reduce the heat to 375º F and continue baking another 25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove the pear tarts from the oven.

Rough Puff Pastry needs to be rolled and baked a little differently than commercial puff pastry.  If you are using commercial puff pastry instead of Rough Puff Pastry it should be rolled out 1/8-inch thick and cut into the same size squares. Assemble the Pear Tarts according to the directions.  Bake entirely at 425º F. for 20 minutes.

On the Plate
Ladle some warm Caramel Sauce on each plate. Using a spatula, transfer a warm Pear Tart to the plate.  Garnish with a mound of Sweetened Whipped Cream.

A Step Ahead
The pears can be poached ahead and stored, covered with their poaching liquid, in the refrigerator for a few days. The Almond Cream can be made a few days ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.  You can bake the Pear Tarts early in the day and leave them at room temperature.  Reheat them in a 375º F oven for about 5 minutes before serving.

Yields 6 servings.


Rough Puff Pastry:
Rough Puff Pastry is a quick or simplified version of classic puff pastry.  It needs to be made, shaped, and baked carefully to get the maximum puff. You don’t want to incorporate too much flour into the finished dough, or it will be tough.  So, as you roll, use enough flour to keep your dough from sticking to the work surfaces, but before you finish folding and rolling the dough, use a clean, dry pastry brush to brush off any excess flour.


11 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice (2 sticks plus 6 tablespoons)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 Tablespoons ice water, plus a tablespoon more if necessary


Place the diced butter in the freezer for 10 minutes before making the dough.  Put the flour and the salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse a few times to mix in the salt.  Add about a third of the very cold diced butter.  Pulse until the butter is in small crumbs.  Add the remaining cold diced butter.  Pulse 3 or 4 times to distribute the butter.  There should still be visible clumps of butter.  Add the ice water.  Pulse until the dough just starts to clump.  If the mixture is very dry, add more water, a teaspoon at a time and pulse again.  Do not over process.  The dough will look a bit lumpy and uneven with butter, but it will smooth out during the rolling and folding process.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a rough rectangle. You can use a board scraper to keep the edges more or less square.  At this point, the dough will be crumbly and fragile, but don’t worry, it will come together as you work with it.  Lightly flour the surface of the rectangle, press the dough with a rolling pin to flatten, then roll back and forth several times with the rolling pin to make a 12 x 18 inch rectangle of dough.

With a long side of dough facing you, fold the top third of the dough down and the bottom third of dough up to make a 4x18 inch rectangle.  Then use your hands to roll the dough up from one short end, like a jelly roll.  Next, use your rolling pin to roll this “jelly roll” out into a 4x18 inch rectangle.  Once again, use your hands to roll the dough up from one short end like a jelly roll.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour until firm.


A Step Ahead
Refrigerate the dough for up to a day.  Rough Puff Pastry can be stored in the freezer, well wrapped in plastic, for a few weeks

Yields 6 squares for Pear Tarts


Caramel Sauce:

1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Place the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes.   After the sugar is dissolved, raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, undisturbed, until the syrup turns a deep golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.  If you see the sugar caramelizing only in one corner you can gently tilt or rotate the pan to distribute the color evenly, but do not whisk.  When the syrup has colored nicely, remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the cream.  Be careful and stand back because the mixture will sputter.  Do not stir until the mixture settles.  Return the pan to low heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the strands of caramel melt.  Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.  Serve warm.

On the Plate
We generously ladle warm Caramel Sauce around our Dahlia Pear Tarts. It is also delicious served over bowls of vanilla ice cream.

A Step Ahead
The Caramel Sauce can be made ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator for a few days.  Warm it in a double boiler before serving.


Yields 1 1/2 cups.

Sweetened Whipped Cream:
It’s easiest to whip cream if everything is very cold, including your bowl and whisk.

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip with the whisk until soft peaks are formed, or whip by hand with a whisk.  Serve immediately.

Yields about 3 cups.

Recipes compliments of Tom Douglas from: Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen (HarperCollins, 2001)