I’m not really good with pears. I don’t know much about them, so I never buy them. And, of course, because I never buy them, I don’t learn much about them. Which types are best for baking and for eating? When are they in season? How do I know when they’re ripe? How long do they take to ripen after you buy them?
Due to my lack of pear knowledge, I was a little worried about how my tart would come out. I should have looked up what kind of pear to use, plus I forgot to buy mine early so it would have time to ripen before I needed to make the tart.
It probably would have been a little better if my pear had been softer, but, as it was, this was a pretty darn good tart. I mean, the pear is cooked in wine for over half an hour – how could that be bad? Plus, pastry cream is just delicious, although pistachio pastry cream resembles split pea soup a little too closely for my comfort. Good thing it’s covered by that beautiful purple poached pear!
Lauren chose this for Tuesdays with Dorie and she has the recipe posted.
One year ago: Linzer Sablés
That looks beautiful!!! (and tasty)
This is such a cute tart. I would enjoy eating it.
Oh I LOVE pears! There are few things better than a nice sweet juicy pear. When they are ripe they are slightly soft. When they are very ripe they are very soft. You can eat any of them but I usually buy the D’Anjou or Bartlett pears for eating. I think they are in season in the winter.
The very best pears I have ever had are the Harry and David Royal Riviera Pears. I don’t know if I’d cook with them, but they are SO DELISH!
and your tart is adorable!
Gorgeous! And has anyone ever told you that you can ripen the pears by putting them in a paper bag? It really does help.
Your tart looks lovely. I passed on this one. I had no pears and no nuts. I did have blueberries so I made Dorie’s blueberry pie instead.
This looks beautiful! I love the way the wine hasn’t’ totally soaked through the pear so there is a different colour inside.
you are right…the custard does look like pea soup…but tastes darn good!
This looks too pretty to eat. Although I thought maybe those were beets instead of pears at first! A beet tart doesn’t sound so keen.
Gosh…has it really been a year already since the lizner sables? Crazy. Very pretty pears and tarts. Nice!
WOW! Those are just BEAUTIFUL!! 🙂
Seriously, that’s the prettiest tart I’ve seen in some time. Love that it looks like a flower. Fantastic job!
Lovely lovely – the red outer ring of the pear combined with the paleness inside gets me every time. And I’ll just ignore the split-pea-esque pastry cream 😛