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A lovely early-autumn bake, our Pear Tart combines buttery pastry, soft almond frangipane and ripe pears. Delicious cold, but particularly hard to beat served slightly warm with a generous spoonful of cream. Taken from our fabulous book of Home Baking 

Serves 8–10
You’ll need: a 23cm loose-based fluted tart tin
Oven: 170°C / 325°F / Gas 3

Ingredients

For the pâte sablée

• 200g plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 75g caster sugar
• 160g salted butter, at room temperature and cubed
• 1 egg yolk

This makes around 500g of pastry. You won't need all of it for the tart, but the remainder can be frozen for another time.

For the frangipane

• 65g salted butter, softened
• 75g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125g ground almonds

For the topping

• 4 large pears
• A little apricot jam, to glaze (optional)

Method

Make the pastry

1. Put the flour, ground almonds and caster sugar into a large bowl and stir until evenly combined.
2. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add the egg yolk and use your hands to mix and knead until the dough comes together into a tight, smooth ball. It can feel as though it isn't going to bind at first, but be patient – it will!
4. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for around 30 minutes, until firm. Remove it from the fridge 10–15 minutes before you're ready to use it.

Make the tart

5. Preheat the oven to 170°C / 325°F / Gas 3.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled pastry to a circle approximately 30cm in diameter and about 3mm thick.
7. Carefully transfer the pastry to the tart tin and gently mould it into the base and sides. The pastry is quite delicate, so simply patch any gaps with a little surplus pastry. Trim the top edge with a sharp knife.
8. To make the frangipane, cream the softened butter and caster sugar together until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined.
9. Fold in the ground almonds until the mixture is smooth, then spoon the frangipane into the pastry case and spread it level.
10. Halve the pears lengthways and remove the cores and pips using a teaspoon or melon baller. Arrange the pear halves in a circle over the frangipane, curved side up.
11. Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the frangipane springs back when lightly pressed.
12. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. For a glossy finish, gently warm a little apricot jam and brush it over the tart.

Best enjoyed on the day it's baked – and especially lovely served warm with cream.

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