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poached pear zinfandel tart
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5 from 1 vote

Zinfandel Pear Tart

Poached pears in a sweet pastry tart shell, filled with a luscious custard cream filling! You'll love this easy to make Zinfandel Pear Tart.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 50 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Calories: 343kcal
Author: Flourtrader

Ingredients

  • 1 sweet pastry tart shell baked (bought or homemade 10 by 1 inch)
  • 6 hard pears bosc or comice
  • ½ tbs unsalted melted butter for greasing pan
  • Pear Poaching Liquid
  • Custard Filling

Pear Poaching Liquid

  • 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 cup of lemon juice about 6-8 lemons
  • 2 cups Zinfandel
  • 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar

Custard Filling

  • 3 ½ tbs flour sifted
  • ½ cup pear poaching liquid
  • 3 tbs lemon zest
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¼ cup sugar

Instructions

  • To poach the pears, fill a large stainless steel or enamel pan with all the pear poaching liquid ingredients.
  • peel, core and half one of the pears, and place each half into the liquid, continue with this process for each of the pears.
  • Place the pan over high heat and place a smaller lid inside the pan to keep the pears submerged while cooking.
  • Let the mixture come to a boil and then reduce heat to low or just below simmering.
  • Cook for about an hour until pears are tender but not mushy.
  • Slow cooking is important to allow them to absorb the flavors and color of the liquid. Remove the pan from the heat.
  • If after an hour the pears seem just tender, you can let the halves cool in the poaching liquid, otherwise, their softness would indicate that they are to be removed.
  • If removing, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place each half face down on the paper. Then let cool in the fridge.
  • Strain the poaching liquid into a bowl and reserve all for later use in this recipe.
  • Once the pears have cooled, take about 4 or 6 halves out of the fridge.
  • Make pear slices by cutting crosswise about ⅛ of an inch thick.
  • Spread halves evenly over the bottom of the pastry shell.
  • preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Find a heat proof bowl and a pot that it can rest in or you can use a double boiler.
  • Fill pot or bottom boiler pan and let water come to a simmer.
  • Place all custard ingredients in a food processor and blend for about 1 minute. Pour the custard into a heat proof bowl or top boiler pan.
  • place over container of simmering water, stirring constantly.
  • Once the mixture reaches a warm temperature, pour it into the pastry shell, leaving a ¼ inch border of pastry around the top.
  • Bake until custard is set, which should take about 25 minutes.
  • Remove pan and let cool completely.

Now it is time to decorate your tart!

  • Cut the remaining pear halves into ⅛ inch slices.
  • Pick through the slices and sort the biggest in one group and the smallest in the other, set the two piles aside. (You will need to use the biggest and best slices first,I found that there was no shortage of those when assembling.)
  • Take ½ cup of the poaching liquid and place in a saucepan over high heat. Boil the mixture until it is reduced to about 1 ½ to 2 tbs, Remove pan, Your liquid should be thick and syrupy.
  • With a pastry brush, brush syrup all over the top of the tart filling.
  • Starting from the outer edge of your tart filling, place slices in circular rows with rounded edges on the outside. Your slices should slightly overlap each on right and left sides. In addition, the next inner row should have some overlap. This is best shown in the illustrations in this post. Once all the tart filling has been covered with pear slices, you are almost ready to serve.
  • Now what about all the reserved poaching liquid left over? It will now become a dessert sauce. Pour it all back into a saucepan and let boil down to about 1 cup, then let cool.

Nutrition

Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 33mg | Potassium: 280mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Vitamin C: 20.5mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 0.9mg