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French Pear & Almond Tart

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This pear and almond tart or amandine aux poires is also known as Tarte Bourdaloue and was created around 1850 by a Parisian patissier on Rue Bourdaloue – hence the name!  It can be made with fresh pears (ideally poached first) or you can use tinned pears which work perfectly.

Ingredients :

  • 1 shortbread pastry
  • 100g softened butter
  • 100g sugar
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 2 eggs
  • A few drops of almond essence
  • Sliced almonds (optional)
  • Apricot jelly to glaze*

 

Method :

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C
  2. Roll out chilled dough and line tin, place in freezer for 15 minutes
  3. Bake the pastry for 10 minutes a 200°C, once removed from the oven lower the temperature to 180°C
  4. Cream the butter and sugar
  5. Add eggs and almond essence and mix well
  6. Mix in the ground almonds
  7. Spread the mixture evenly over the pastry base
  8. Slice the pear halves in thin slices, place them on the almond mixture
  9. Sprinkle the tart with almond slices
  10. Bake in oven for 30 minutes

 

*Glaze : You can heat a few spoons of apricot jelly and brush the top of your tart once it has cooled down to give it a nice shiny look!

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Madeleines

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Madeleines are well known small sponge cakes, famous for their little ‘bump’ and shell like shape. They originated in the town of Commercy in the Lorraine region in north-eastern France and were made for the King of Lorraine, Stanislas, in 1755 by a young servant girl whose name was, évidemment, Madeleine –  which is why the King declared they would be known from then on as Madeleines de Commercy.

Madeleines are often associated with Marcel Proust who wrote about them and the childhood memories evoked by eating one.

Ingredients :

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 100g flour
  • 20g ground almonds
  • 100g sugar
  • 125g salted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (approximately 6g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence extract

Method :

  1. Pre-heat oven to 210°C
  2. Melt the butter in a pan until it browns slightly (this gives a nutty flavour to your madeleines and is known as a ‘beurre-noisette’ in french which translates as ‘hazelnut-butter’)
  3. Mix the flour with the baking powder and the ground almonds
  4. In a bowl gently beat the eggs with the sugar and the vanilla essence
  5. Sieve in the mix of flour, baking powder and ground almonds and mix until the texture is smooth
  6. Add in the cooled melted butter and mix well
  7. Ideally if you have the time leave the batter in the fridge for 2 hours – this will help them rise and give the traditional ‘bump’ shape!
  8. Grease the madeleine pan (this isn’t necessary if you are using silicon pans) and fill each shell to about 2/3
  9. Bake in oven at 210°C for 6-8 minutes

*Other possible flavours for your madeleines : the zest of a small lemon or a few drops of orange blossom water

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Flaugnarde aux Pommes

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Flaugnarde  or flognarde is a baked French dessert with fruit and a  thick flan-like batter hailing from the Limousin and Auvergne region in France. It is similar to a clafoutis, which is made with black cherries whereas a flaugnarde is made with apples, peaches, pears, plums, prunes etc. It can be served either warm or cold.

 

Ingredients :

  • 100g flour
  • 100g sugar
  • 1 table spoon oil
  • 300ml milk
  • 200ml liquid cream (or liquid crème fraîche)
  • 5 eggs
  • 6 apples
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt

 

Method :

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
  2. Peel and core the apples and slice into circles
  3. Mix everything together in a bowl in the following order : flour, sugar, oil, milk, cream, salt
  4. Beat eggs well and add to mixture
  5. Butter a round oven dish and spread the apple slices around evenly
  6. Pour the batter over the apples
  7. Bake in oven for 45 minutes at 180°C
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Financiers with Raspberries

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Financiers

Financiers are a french pâtisserie made with ground almonds.  In 1890 the pâtissier Lasne re-visited an old recipe from the 17th century for a small oval cake called visitandines (called after the religious order of sisters who created the cake), using the same ingredients but changing the shape. As his shop was situated in the financial district in Paris and almost all his clients worked there, he called his cake a “financier” and gave it the shape of a gold bar.

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