- Hey guys.
Thanksgiving will be here in a matter of weeks.
And if you are starting to feel the pressure
of all the homemade pies, I have got
the perfect recipe for you.
It's completely low-tech.
You're not going to need
any food processors, any electric mixers.
You're going to be able to make it in less than an hour
and people are going to think
you are a complete rock star.
It's my easy pear tart.
Let me show you how to make it.
(gentle upbeat music)
So you first want to take out a flat cookie sheet,
meaning that it does not have a rim around it.
This is going to really help when it comes time
to take our tart off the cookie sheet.
So it does help if it's completely flat.
And then you're going to lay down
a piece of pre-cut brown parchment paper.
Now the parchment paper is going to do two things.
One, it's going to help our tart
not stick to our cookie sheet.
But also it has a decorative function as well.
Because I really like to serve it on the parchment paper
on a big cheeseboard, because I think it looks
really beautiful and rustic that way.
Then, here's the real time-saver.
We are going to get some store-bought puff pastry.
And I really like the kind that you can get
that's an actual pastry round.
Then you're going to take a dinner plate
that is at least one or two inches smaller
than your pastry round, flour the top of it,
and then set it down.
And what we're going to be doing is using this
as a guide to create our crust.
Then you're going to take a sharp knife
that doesn't have any serrated edges,
because you don't want to pull that pastry.
You just want to make a nice incision.
And the incision is really just a score.
So you don't want to cut through it.
You just want to score it.
And then when you release the plate
you'll see you have like a little border.
And as that puff pastry bakes,
that border is going to become our crust.
Then you're going to take a half a cup
of unsweetened applesauce.
And to that you're going to add
a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon.
And you can just whisk that up with a fork.
And then you're going to spread this applesauce
just in the center circle to create a nice base.
Don't go over to the crust.
Just keep yourself in that center circle.
Okay, and now here comes
the most impressive part, the pears.
So for this recipe I really like to use
those brown pears or red pears.
And we're going to leave the skins on,
because that's the real pretty part.
Then you're going to take your pear
and cut off what I like to call the hips of a pear.
I don't know if that's the technical term,
but that's what I call it
'cause they kind of look like little hips.
And you want to cut it just so that you're cutting
enough of the hip off, but you're not
actually cutting into the core.
Then you'll be left with a little rectangular core,
another easy step.
Then you're going to take the pear hip cut side down
and you're going to slice very thinly
about an eighth of an inch thick.
And it does really help if your pears are ripe.
Because this tart does not bake very long,
you want to make sure that if you were to bite
into this pear, it would be nice
and tender and ripe already.
Keeping the same order, you are going to
lay these slices down on your tart.
So you're going to start with the real little one
and then they're just going to get bigger and bigger
until they get smaller and smaller.
The thing to keep in mind is just make sure
that they're all going the same direction.
So their skin backs should be facing one way
and their cut fronts should be facing the other way.
So you're going to do this with all of your hips first
going all the way around your tart.
And then the little side parts of the pear
that we cut that are smaller,
what I like to do is keep the top in tact
and just slice very thinly the bottom part.
And then you're create almost like a fan effect,
and you're going to put that in the center.
And then you can fill in if needed
with any of the other pear slices.
Or just looking at your tart as a whole,
sometimes the design emerges a little bit different
and you see a little area that could use another pear.
So I like to use those little side pears for that.
And there you go.
Doesn't that look beautiful?
So now we are going to take a tablespoon
of just plain white sugar
and sprinkle it all over the pears.
And then you're going to take an egg and beat it up well.
And then with a pastry brush you are going to
lightly brush your crust all the way around.
But one thing to keep in mind.
Do not brush the egg in the scoring.
Because what'll happen is it'll stick
and then your crust will not rise up.
So puff pastry really needs
to be unencumbered in order to rise.
So just be very careful and kind of just give it
a light brushing all the way around the perimeter,
being careful not to go into that scored edge.
And then we are going to take our tart
and put it in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven.
And you are going to bake it for about 30 to 35 minutes,
just until it's nice and golden brown.
And you're see it'll puff up slightly.
And then the final step is just to brush our pears
with a little melted jelly that you can melt
in the microwave, about 30 second increments.
Or you can do it on the stove top too.
And what this is going to do
is create a really beautiful shine to our pears.
If you can't find apple jelly,
I have found that apricot jelly is a great substitute.
It is tart without being too sweet.
Or another great option would be like a fig jam.
That would really make this a beautiful fall flavor too.
Then I love to serve this tart
with some homemade whipped cream.
And you guys have seen me make whipped cream
on this channel dozens of times,
usually in my electric mixer.
But I wanted to show you how quick and easy
it can also be done with just a wire whisk and a bowl.
Now it does take a little muscle, but it can be done.
So in a medium size bowl we're going to add
two cups of either heavy cream or whipping cream.
Either one will work.
Two tablespoons of powdered sugar,
and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
And then all you are going to do
is get your wire whisk out and start whipping.
I find that it works really well if you have a bowl
that's a little bit smaller than larger.
'Cause you want it really concentrated
so that when you aggravate that cream
really fast or really quickly,
it's going to start to thicken.
And then over time you will see you will get
a really beautiful softly whipped cream.
And then as I mentioned, because this tart is rather large,
it's actually too big to fit on some of my cake stands.
So I just like to take that parchment paper
and slide it off onto a big cheeseboard.
And then transfer my whipped cream
into a nice little piece of pottery
and put that on the cheeseboard.
And then tuck in a beautiful cake server
and bring that whole thing to the table.
And I think it is perfectly lovely and beautiful.
I think things can be at their most eloquent
when they are so simple.
And there you have it, a beautiful elegant dessert
that took you hardly any time to put together,
and hardly any kitchen gadgets.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
And remember, for more quick and easy recipes
be sure to subscribe and I will see you
back here next week for another one.
Until then, bye.
(bright music with male vocalizations)