Tarte Aux Poires Rôties

                                                  portion: 8

Ingredients:

topping: 

3 pears, firm 

30g/1oz melted unsalted butter 

30g/1oz superfine sugar

sablé (cookie dough): 

175g ( 6.5oz) butter, very soft but not melted 

zest of 1 lemon or orange or lime (optional) 

1 heavy pinch of salt 

90g (3oz) icing sugar 

2 egg yolks 80g (2.5 oz) almond meal 

125g (4 oz) all purpose flour
60g/2oz Apricot jam or jelly for “glueing “ and glazing the pears.

procedure:

• Prepare the pears first, they need to cool down before assembling the tart. 
• Preheat your oven at 220C/425F 
• Peel, core and slice the pears, arrange them on a tray brushed with butter, brush also the top of the slices with butter and sift the sugar on the slices. Bake for about 15 minutes until soft and lightly browned.

For the sablé dough: 

• Put soft butter (zest if desired) and sugar in the bowl of a standup mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. 
• Whisk at low speed until the sugar is incorporated then increase the speed and go for a couple of minutes until the mixture is fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl if you see that the butter is sticking to the sides of the bowl.
• Add the yolks, one at the time and mix until incorporated. Stop, add the almond meal, whisk until incorporated, then finally the flour. 
• Whisk 10 seconds at highest speed after having added the flour. Stop and transfer mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
• Preheat the oven at 180C/350F. Line a cooking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Pipe the dough about 1 cm high inside metal ring mold and bake for about 20 minutes. The tart should be golden, not too dark. 

Take out of the oven and gently remove the ring mold while still hot. Let the tart base cool.
When cookies and pears are room temperature spread a thin layer of apricot jam on the baked dough, then arrange the pear slices.
The make the pears shiny use some melted apple or apricot jelly. Sprinkle with chopped almonds for garnish, if desired.