67 thoughts on “French Pear Tart P&Q.. a little late..”
I haven’t been able to find a tart pan in my little
town.. is it ok if i use something similar.. or maybe
a pie plate?
I live in a big town and still had problems finding a 9″ pie plate… I bought an 8″ plate and figure I will just not use all of the crust and filling. Do you think that will work?
Whoops- I made a mistake in the above. I bought an 8″ tart pan because I couldn’t find a 9″ pan.
Liz I had to do the same thing. I’m just going to keep an eye on the cooking time and see how it pans out..
“pans out” – ha ha ha very punny!!
Going to make mine tomorrow. wish me luck – going to half the recipe and make in mini tart pans.
YUM!
I’ve poached the pears and made the crust. Tomorrow I am making the almond cream and assembling the tarts. These should be very tasting. I haven’t had any problems…
I have a tart pan on order from Amazon, but it won’t be here in time.
I plan on using my spring form pan.
Williams Sonoma usually has round, rectangle and tartlette sizes. Another suggestion is to use small cake rings on parchment, Just keep the sides of the crust low.
I found an 11″ tart pan (with a removable bottom) and mini tart pans (4-something inches). But I ended up just using a 9″ pie dish (with straight sides) and decided to not bother removing it from the pan — it’ll just be me and the hubs eating it, so there is nobody around to wow with a spectacular presentation. I did make a double crust, though, and froze four mini tart crusts, so I might make a little extra almond cream tomorrow and try to do one pear tart in a mini.
I was going to make mine today, but didnt have pears. So I will start it tomorrow. I did find my tart pans at Williams Sonoma also. I also got some mini’s and a 9′ tart pan at Bed Bath and Beyond. I see them at Marshall’s/Homegoods also from time to time. Hope that helps!
Is it bad that I am looking forward to the pear tart b/c I hope Dorie will leave me a comment on my blog? ;)
I made the pear tart a few days ago…oh my, it was not only impressive looking, it was DELICIOUS! For everyone who wants to use an 8-inch tart pan instead of a 9-inch one: make sure to use less filling. Even with the 9-inch pan, the filling almost bubbled over!
That’s exactly the problem I had, too much filling. As I type this some of it is overflowing in the oven! Oh well!
The hardest part of the recipe for me was trying to figure out what Dorie meant by thinly slicing the pears cross wise (that whole paragraph). Luckily, I was able to find some photos on line which helped!
I made mine a few days ago – I used peaches instead of pears and left out the almonds (because of allergies).
Well………. I was so pleasantly surprised! It was delicious! There was a bit too much filling, but wow! It tasted great!
I didn’t have a 9″ tart pan either; but I had some other sizes. Using an online circle calculator (too lazy to do the equation myself!) I realized that I could double the crust recipe and fill an 8″ (40% of the double recipe) and a 10″ pan (60% of the double recipe).
I baked one pear tart last weekend, with the 8″ pan, making 80% of the almond cream recipe. That works out to 70 grams of butter, 104 grams of sugar, 62 grams of ground almonds, 1 1/2 tsp flour, 3/4 tsp cornstarch, 48 grams of egg (I used egg substitute), [and 1 1/2 tsp rum or 3/4 tsp vanilla] This was the perfect amount of filling for the tart. I added a weird flavoring and it ruined the tart :(
I baked the 10″ tart today (I had frozen the crust in the tart pan), and the quantities are: 103 grams butter, 156 grams sugar, 93 grams almonds, 2 1/2 tsp flour, 1 1/4 tsp cornstarch, 72 grams egg. I used 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp almond extract. I served this at a dinner party tonight and people went wild over it.
I’ll have to admit the directions left me mystified as to pear cutting and placement, but a quick Google search fixed that. Both times it took a bit longer than an hour to cook through.
This might be my very favorite Dorie recipe!
Nancy
I wasn’t sure about several things along the way – my almond cream seemed too stiff, for one thing – but the tart was delicious.
You can just use a 9-inch springform pan instead of a tart pan. It’s the same idea, just with taller sides. You won’t have the fluted edges, and your crust will look a little more “rustic”, because you’ll have to sort of guess how tall to make the edges, but it works the same other than that.
I thought the pear almond tart was really good.
@CB: Amen, Sister. I think we’re all feeling that way.
I made these yesterday.
The one thing that baffled me a little was the part where we whiz the sugar and butter in the food processor until “smooth and satiny”. My butter/sugar mixture kept balling up and circling the center of the FP. It didn’t seem to be mixing very well. I’m not sure I ever got to the smooth and satiny stage. (Did anyone else experience this?)
But it ended up being fine, I guess. The tart was delicious.
I used a 10-inch tart pan and I thought the crust was just right but I didn’t have enough filling. It was still fabulous though! I also used an extra pear because I had it in my head that the entire tart should be covered with pears with just a little filling poking out! I wasn’t sure what the finished product was supposed to look like. :)
I made my tarts tonight! well, it was an all day process…and we are waiting for them to cool so we can try them =)
Because I really have to get my sweet consumption under better control – so I made 4 mini tarts (so we can give some away) because I just picked some mini tart pans up at a local restaurant supply store!
I didn’t use all the almond cream or the dough and the baking time was about 13 minutes short (so about 37 minutes). Other than that, there were no other big changes.
I used a bigger springform pan luckily so I could (almost) fit my pears in ! The tart was a big success ! I believe it’s one of the best recipe until now !!
Jacque – my filling did that, too, exactly!
Nancy – thanks for the link to the picture. I wish I had seen it sooner because her pear arrangement was so much pretty than mine!
I would like to make small tarts instead of one large one – say cupcake size tarts. Can someone help me with how long I should bake them – both the tartlet crust part and the filled tartlet part. Thanks tons. Heather
I figured I would pretend I liked this, just in case Dorie looked at my blog. But there was no need to pretend, because it’s absolutely delicious! I didn’t understand the pear slicing directions either, and mine looks nothing like the picture Nancy linked to, but it still looked nice. I can’t wait to have people over for dinner, because this is what I’ll make for dessert!
I’m really excited to try this recipe, but I don’t have a food processor. Any tips on how to make the dough for the crust without one?
Katy-I’m thinking a pastry cutter would work-or a hand mixer, that way, it doesn’t get overworked.
I absolutely LOVE these. I made them as small tarts…the almond cream gets slightly chewy when it meets the crust…personally my favorite of all Dorie recipes so far!!!!
Nancy, Thanks for the picture. That is not what I thought it would look like. CB, It would be awesome to get a comment. I have really thought a lot about how I will begin this post. It doesn’t seem right to just say. “This week’s recipe was chosen by Dorie Greenspan, the author of the cookbook.” I can’t WAIT to see her post!!!!!! So exciting!!!
Heather- I made mini tarts and also little-tiny tarts in my mini muffin pan. I prebaked the mini tart crusts for 12-14 minutes and the little tiny ones were completely baked in 10-12 minutes (I filled them with pastry cream). So for cupcake size tarts I would say maybe prebake for 7 minutes- and see, since those are smaller than the minis. Then bake them with the filling for 15-20 minutes and go from there.
The mini tarts I baked for 25 minutes to start, once the filling was in, than added probably 5-7 more minutes until the almond cream was puffed and browned.
I also googled Dorie’s French Tart and saw the same pic that Nancy linked to and that gave me a good idea of what the cream should look like when puffed and golden.
Wow, now I have an excuse to go splurge at William Sonoma. As always, I will be starting my late. I am such a procrastinator!!!
Thank you so much Mary Ann: I’ll use the 7 mins. prebake method and the 15-20 min. full bake. Am looking forward to your presentation. I’m thinking of baking in some 2″ fluted pans – that’s about cupcake size I think.
I made it in the 8″ tart pan and it worked fine. I only baked it for 40 minutes. I wish I would have seen the photo before, because I didn’t slice the pears as beautifully. But oh well it looks great! I can’t wait to try it!
PS this is my first TWD :)
My mini tart doughs(I think they are 4″) are sitting in the freezer waiting to be prebaked. DD is allergic to nuts but claims she has no interest in these anyways so I might just make the filling as is. For those of you who didn’t use almonds, what did you use instead?
I thought the crust tasted like a short bread cookie. It was scrumptious. I could not find my tart pan so I just used my 9″ pie plate. I left it in the plate and just ate it like a pie..so good and my family loved it!
I used the mini tart pans as well, I froze 2 and halved the almond cream to just make two for now. They turned out really good! Very very tasty!
I don’t have a tart pan either and used a pie plate, it was a little more difficult to get each piece out because it kinda stuck. I used the bake times as directed. I used fresh pears and poached them, oooh they are good! I didn’t place my pears as directed, I layed them around the top to make a pattern instead. I thought this was pretty, probably better the next day, as I could taste the flavors better. I would love to try this again, with a tart pan. :)
I have one word for this tart: YUM! It turned out perfectly, both in taste and appearance. Great choice!
Hi all,
I’m sorry I didn’t see all these questions sooner, but it looks as though you figured stuff out very nicely on your own.
About making the almond cream without a food processor — you can make it in a mixer or by hand using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon.
And about pan size — I would have done exactly what you all did: go with what I had in the house. The thing about tarts, especially tarts like this one, is that they’re construction projects. You make the elements separately and then assemble them, so you can make all kinds of adjustments as you go. It’s easy to change the pan size, you just have to adjust the amount of filling and fruit accordingly — but you all know that.
As you’ll see when I post tomorrow, I used only two pears for the tart. My pears were so big — there were smaller pears in the market, but the fruit man assured me that I’d be much happier with the big guys — that it was a squeeze getting just two in.
Apologies if the instructions for slicing the pears weren’t so clear. The picture Nancy linked to is a perfect example of perfect pear-slicing. However, what you want here is the flavor of pear and almond, so if you cubed the pears, sliced them the long way or even just left the pear halves intact, you’d get the flavor and texture that makes this tart a French classic.
See you all tomorrow — Dorie
I used an 11 inch tart pan just doubled the dough recipe used what i needed and froze the rest. My tart came out great!
Hi ladies, I’m Chris and am new to the group. I’m hoping my cookbook arrives today.
Can someone tell me what “P & Q” stands for? Thanks!
I can’t wait to get started. :)
Wow it’s so nice to hear from Dorie herself! I know all of us appreciate her comments and words of encourgement. What a great cooking role model we have.
@Snapper – P&Q = problems and questions. We have one each week for each recipe so that anyone can post if they need help etc.
Im glad that other people are using a springform pan, because that is all i have too… Are people having success with that? Im making mine tonight… Im really excited!
This tart is fabulous! FA-BU-LOUS! That is all. Thank you. :)
I am so excited to post about this tomorrow. I was soooo intimidated by this one, but it not only tasted fabulous….it was beautiful, too!! I’m quite proud of myself!!! I would not have been nearly as successful without reading all of your comments. Thanks.
I’m working on mine as I type this – like many others I didn’t have the 9″ tart pan. I’m working with an 11″ pan and just slightly increased the proportions for the recipe. I’m glad to see so many positive reviews on this! My preference is always for something chocolate, but it sounds like this may be a winner anyway – I’m looking forward to trying the finished product!
I took mine out of the oven a few minutes ago. Is this best served warm or room temperature or cold? I’m trying to decide if I need to have DH pick up some vanilla ice cream to have with it if it gets warmed up.
OMG, the absolute most delicious dessert I have ever had with pears!!!!
Is Dorie baking with us this week and is she posting the recipe? Who do I point to for the recipe this week??
OOPS Sorry, I just saw Dorie’s post….
Mine is in the oven now and after the hectic holiday season we had I decided to go with what I had on hand… an 11″ tart pan and apples. I was glad to see Dorie had other fruits for Playing Around because the last thing my nerves could handle was a trip to the grocery store for pears and William Sonoma for yet another tart pan :)
Smells great and I’m looking forward to tasting it!
Hi, this is my first time and I am very excited/nervous. Here is my question: I have a glass tart dish or a regular springform pan. I am afraid if I use the glass it will break going freezer to oven? Those of you who used pie plates, were they glass? Did you still freeze the crust before baking?
Waiting for my tart pan from Williams-Sonoma….hopefully it will be here tomorrow!!!
Isn’t it great when you think you have made a mistake and it isn’t going to work, and then… it comes our great!
This pear tart sure looked sad in the bowl of the food processor. Nothing even close to smooth and silky. But you know, it really tasted great and it looked pretty good too! Enen made a 4 in size tart with the extra dough.
What a lovely, elegant tart. I was a little worried because at first my crust didn’t cohere, and then I wondered if I had packed it down too roughly and perhaps it would lose its crumbly texture. No need to worry. The tart was delicious. I’ve loved this cookbook ever since it came out, but this was my first official Tuesdays with Dorie challenge. Thanks so much for suggesting (and creating) such a great recipe!
Hey all,
I don’t have a tart pan, couldn’t find one in our city and just made a freeform tart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Worked great! So you can even make this without a pan! That said, cut the prebake time (or none at all), my tart is a little overbaked, but darn good anyway!
Mary,
I recalled reading something about glass pie pans on Rose Levy Beranbaum’s blog. She said she checked with the manufacturer of Pyrex, and they said it would be fine to take a pie pan out of the freezer straight to an oven rack. However, they were NOT OK with putting a freezer-temperature pan it onto a preheated baking stone or baking pan. (Much faster heat transfer that way.)
I have read in several places that Pyrex (and other brands of tempered glass) are most sensitive to going from hot to cold, not cold to hot. I can confirm this! I once cracked a Pyrex coffee carafe at the place I worked by taking it off the heater where it had been left to go dry (it was very hot) and placing into onto the bottom of a cold, wet metal sink. Crack!
On the other hand, I’ve often placed refrigerator-temperature glass pie pans on preheated oven stones with no problem. I may even have done it with frozen ones occasionally, but after reading that the manufacturer doesn’t recommend it, now I will stop. I’ve had the same glass pie pan for 30 years now and I am quite attached to it!
I used an 11 inch pan I bought at Target, not Williams Sonoma, and forgot to double the recipe! It went in as is. Wish me luck!!!
I’m going to be late, but I sure as anythang aint gonna miss it! Watch out for me! :D
LOVED this challenge! So easy & so good!!!
Thanks, I did it in the glass, even though it is not Pyrex and I don’t know if it is tempered, and it did NOT break! Continuing on. :)
Really delicious! I did 1 1/2 recipes on both to cover my 11″ tart pan. You just don’t go looking for tart pans in Italy! I’d still be looking… anyway. I did have a little bit left over on both the filling and crust, but worth. It was gorgeous — mine just a tad over cooked thinking the center would be firm. I learned that the center will firm up some after it cools. Love it, and will absolutely repeat it. (Poached pears and all.)
I am making mine right now and so mine will be up tonight. I hate it that it didn’t make it for the moring rush hour but I’ve loved being a part of the fun and I know it will be a pleasure to servce with din din tonight.
Hoorey
AmyRuth
As this is my first recipe with all of you I ‘m very excited. My tart is in the oven now and the smell from the kitchen is absolutely amazing!!!! I can’t wait to try it!!!
Thanks CB! At first I was thinking pictures & questions, but that didn’t pan out once I clicked, lol.
No cookbook in my mailbox yet. :(
Tuesdays with Dorie 
I haven’t been able to find a tart pan in my little
town.. is it ok if i use something similar.. or maybe
a pie plate?
I live in a big town and still had problems finding a 9″ pie plate… I bought an 8″ plate and figure I will just not use all of the crust and filling. Do you think that will work?
Whoops- I made a mistake in the above. I bought an 8″ tart pan because I couldn’t find a 9″ pan.
Liz I had to do the same thing. I’m just going to keep an eye on the cooking time and see how it pans out..
“pans out” – ha ha ha very punny!!
Going to make mine tomorrow. wish me luck – going to half the recipe and make in mini tart pans.
YUM!
I’ve poached the pears and made the crust. Tomorrow I am making the almond cream and assembling the tarts. These should be very tasting. I haven’t had any problems…
I have a tart pan on order from Amazon, but it won’t be here in time.
I plan on using my spring form pan.
Williams Sonoma usually has round, rectangle and tartlette sizes. Another suggestion is to use small cake rings on parchment, Just keep the sides of the crust low.
I found an 11″ tart pan (with a removable bottom) and mini tart pans (4-something inches). But I ended up just using a 9″ pie dish (with straight sides) and decided to not bother removing it from the pan — it’ll just be me and the hubs eating it, so there is nobody around to wow with a spectacular presentation. I did make a double crust, though, and froze four mini tart crusts, so I might make a little extra almond cream tomorrow and try to do one pear tart in a mini.
I was going to make mine today, but didnt have pears. So I will start it tomorrow. I did find my tart pans at Williams Sonoma also. I also got some mini’s and a 9′ tart pan at Bed Bath and Beyond. I see them at Marshall’s/Homegoods also from time to time. Hope that helps!
Is it bad that I am looking forward to the pear tart b/c I hope Dorie will leave me a comment on my blog? ;)
I made the pear tart a few days ago…oh my, it was not only impressive looking, it was DELICIOUS! For everyone who wants to use an 8-inch tart pan instead of a 9-inch one: make sure to use less filling. Even with the 9-inch pan, the filling almost bubbled over!
That’s exactly the problem I had, too much filling. As I type this some of it is overflowing in the oven! Oh well!
The hardest part of the recipe for me was trying to figure out what Dorie meant by thinly slicing the pears cross wise (that whole paragraph). Luckily, I was able to find some photos on line which helped!
I made mine a few days ago – I used peaches instead of pears and left out the almonds (because of allergies).
Well………. I was so pleasantly surprised! It was delicious! There was a bit too much filling, but wow! It tasted great!
I didn’t have a 9″ tart pan either; but I had some other sizes. Using an online circle calculator (too lazy to do the equation myself!) I realized that I could double the crust recipe and fill an 8″ (40% of the double recipe) and a 10″ pan (60% of the double recipe).
I baked one pear tart last weekend, with the 8″ pan, making 80% of the almond cream recipe. That works out to 70 grams of butter, 104 grams of sugar, 62 grams of ground almonds, 1 1/2 tsp flour, 3/4 tsp cornstarch, 48 grams of egg (I used egg substitute), [and 1 1/2 tsp rum or 3/4 tsp vanilla] This was the perfect amount of filling for the tart. I added a weird flavoring and it ruined the tart :(
I baked the 10″ tart today (I had frozen the crust in the tart pan), and the quantities are: 103 grams butter, 156 grams sugar, 93 grams almonds, 2 1/2 tsp flour, 1 1/4 tsp cornstarch, 72 grams egg. I used 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp almond extract. I served this at a dinner party tonight and people went wild over it.
I’ll have to admit the directions left me mystified as to pear cutting and placement, but a quick Google search fixed that. Both times it took a bit longer than an hour to cook through.
This might be my very favorite Dorie recipe!
Nancy
I wasn’t sure about several things along the way – my almond cream seemed too stiff, for one thing – but the tart was delicious.
You can just use a 9-inch springform pan instead of a tart pan. It’s the same idea, just with taller sides. You won’t have the fluted edges, and your crust will look a little more “rustic”, because you’ll have to sort of guess how tall to make the edges, but it works the same other than that.
I thought the pear almond tart was really good.
@CB: Amen, Sister. I think we’re all feeling that way.
I made these yesterday.
The one thing that baffled me a little was the part where we whiz the sugar and butter in the food processor until “smooth and satiny”. My butter/sugar mixture kept balling up and circling the center of the FP. It didn’t seem to be mixing very well. I’m not sure I ever got to the smooth and satiny stage. (Did anyone else experience this?)
But it ended up being fine, I guess. The tart was delicious.
I used a 10-inch tart pan and I thought the crust was just right but I didn’t have enough filling. It was still fabulous though! I also used an extra pear because I had it in my head that the entire tart should be covered with pears with just a little filling poking out! I wasn’t sure what the finished product was supposed to look like. :)
Here is a link to a blog post that has a great picture of the tart:
http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2008/01/french-pear-and-almond-tart.html
I made my tarts tonight! well, it was an all day process…and we are waiting for them to cool so we can try them =)
Because I really have to get my sweet consumption under better control – so I made 4 mini tarts (so we can give some away) because I just picked some mini tart pans up at a local restaurant supply store!
I didn’t use all the almond cream or the dough and the baking time was about 13 minutes short (so about 37 minutes). Other than that, there were no other big changes.
I used a bigger springform pan luckily so I could (almost) fit my pears in ! The tart was a big success ! I believe it’s one of the best recipe until now !!
Jacque – my filling did that, too, exactly!
Nancy – thanks for the link to the picture. I wish I had seen it sooner because her pear arrangement was so much pretty than mine!
I would like to make small tarts instead of one large one – say cupcake size tarts. Can someone help me with how long I should bake them – both the tartlet crust part and the filled tartlet part. Thanks tons. Heather
I figured I would pretend I liked this, just in case Dorie looked at my blog. But there was no need to pretend, because it’s absolutely delicious! I didn’t understand the pear slicing directions either, and mine looks nothing like the picture Nancy linked to, but it still looked nice. I can’t wait to have people over for dinner, because this is what I’ll make for dessert!
I’m really excited to try this recipe, but I don’t have a food processor. Any tips on how to make the dough for the crust without one?
Katy-I’m thinking a pastry cutter would work-or a hand mixer, that way, it doesn’t get overworked.
I absolutely LOVE these. I made them as small tarts…the almond cream gets slightly chewy when it meets the crust…personally my favorite of all Dorie recipes so far!!!!
Nancy, Thanks for the picture. That is not what I thought it would look like. CB, It would be awesome to get a comment. I have really thought a lot about how I will begin this post. It doesn’t seem right to just say. “This week’s recipe was chosen by Dorie Greenspan, the author of the cookbook.” I can’t WAIT to see her post!!!!!! So exciting!!!
Heather- I made mini tarts and also little-tiny tarts in my mini muffin pan. I prebaked the mini tart crusts for 12-14 minutes and the little tiny ones were completely baked in 10-12 minutes (I filled them with pastry cream). So for cupcake size tarts I would say maybe prebake for 7 minutes- and see, since those are smaller than the minis. Then bake them with the filling for 15-20 minutes and go from there.
The mini tarts I baked for 25 minutes to start, once the filling was in, than added probably 5-7 more minutes until the almond cream was puffed and browned.
I also googled Dorie’s French Tart and saw the same pic that Nancy linked to and that gave me a good idea of what the cream should look like when puffed and golden.
Wow, now I have an excuse to go splurge at William Sonoma. As always, I will be starting my late. I am such a procrastinator!!!
Thank you so much Mary Ann: I’ll use the 7 mins. prebake method and the 15-20 min. full bake. Am looking forward to your presentation. I’m thinking of baking in some 2″ fluted pans – that’s about cupcake size I think.
I made it in the 8″ tart pan and it worked fine. I only baked it for 40 minutes. I wish I would have seen the photo before, because I didn’t slice the pears as beautifully. But oh well it looks great! I can’t wait to try it!
PS this is my first TWD :)
My mini tart doughs(I think they are 4″) are sitting in the freezer waiting to be prebaked. DD is allergic to nuts but claims she has no interest in these anyways so I might just make the filling as is. For those of you who didn’t use almonds, what did you use instead?
I thought the crust tasted like a short bread cookie. It was scrumptious. I could not find my tart pan so I just used my 9″ pie plate. I left it in the plate and just ate it like a pie..so good and my family loved it!
I used the mini tart pans as well, I froze 2 and halved the almond cream to just make two for now. They turned out really good! Very very tasty!
I don’t have a tart pan either and used a pie plate, it was a little more difficult to get each piece out because it kinda stuck. I used the bake times as directed. I used fresh pears and poached them, oooh they are good! I didn’t place my pears as directed, I layed them around the top to make a pattern instead. I thought this was pretty, probably better the next day, as I could taste the flavors better. I would love to try this again, with a tart pan. :)
I have one word for this tart: YUM! It turned out perfectly, both in taste and appearance. Great choice!
Hi all,
I’m sorry I didn’t see all these questions sooner, but it looks as though you figured stuff out very nicely on your own.
About making the almond cream without a food processor — you can make it in a mixer or by hand using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon.
And about pan size — I would have done exactly what you all did: go with what I had in the house. The thing about tarts, especially tarts like this one, is that they’re construction projects. You make the elements separately and then assemble them, so you can make all kinds of adjustments as you go. It’s easy to change the pan size, you just have to adjust the amount of filling and fruit accordingly — but you all know that.
As you’ll see when I post tomorrow, I used only two pears for the tart. My pears were so big — there were smaller pears in the market, but the fruit man assured me that I’d be much happier with the big guys — that it was a squeeze getting just two in.
Apologies if the instructions for slicing the pears weren’t so clear. The picture Nancy linked to is a perfect example of perfect pear-slicing. However, what you want here is the flavor of pear and almond, so if you cubed the pears, sliced them the long way or even just left the pear halves intact, you’d get the flavor and texture that makes this tart a French classic.
See you all tomorrow — Dorie
I used an 11 inch tart pan just doubled the dough recipe used what i needed and froze the rest. My tart came out great!
Hi ladies, I’m Chris and am new to the group. I’m hoping my cookbook arrives today.
Can someone tell me what “P & Q” stands for? Thanks!
I can’t wait to get started. :)
Wow it’s so nice to hear from Dorie herself! I know all of us appreciate her comments and words of encourgement. What a great cooking role model we have.
@Snapper – P&Q = problems and questions. We have one each week for each recipe so that anyone can post if they need help etc.
Im glad that other people are using a springform pan, because that is all i have too… Are people having success with that? Im making mine tonight… Im really excited!
This tart is fabulous! FA-BU-LOUS! That is all. Thank you. :)
I am so excited to post about this tomorrow. I was soooo intimidated by this one, but it not only tasted fabulous….it was beautiful, too!! I’m quite proud of myself!!! I would not have been nearly as successful without reading all of your comments. Thanks.
I’m working on mine as I type this – like many others I didn’t have the 9″ tart pan. I’m working with an 11″ pan and just slightly increased the proportions for the recipe. I’m glad to see so many positive reviews on this! My preference is always for something chocolate, but it sounds like this may be a winner anyway – I’m looking forward to trying the finished product!
I took mine out of the oven a few minutes ago. Is this best served warm or room temperature or cold? I’m trying to decide if I need to have DH pick up some vanilla ice cream to have with it if it gets warmed up.
OMG, the absolute most delicious dessert I have ever had with pears!!!!
Is Dorie baking with us this week and is she posting the recipe? Who do I point to for the recipe this week??
OOPS Sorry, I just saw Dorie’s post….
Mine is in the oven now and after the hectic holiday season we had I decided to go with what I had on hand… an 11″ tart pan and apples. I was glad to see Dorie had other fruits for Playing Around because the last thing my nerves could handle was a trip to the grocery store for pears and William Sonoma for yet another tart pan :)
Smells great and I’m looking forward to tasting it!
Hi, this is my first time and I am very excited/nervous. Here is my question: I have a glass tart dish or a regular springform pan. I am afraid if I use the glass it will break going freezer to oven? Those of you who used pie plates, were they glass? Did you still freeze the crust before baking?
Waiting for my tart pan from Williams-Sonoma….hopefully it will be here tomorrow!!!
Isn’t it great when you think you have made a mistake and it isn’t going to work, and then… it comes our great!
This pear tart sure looked sad in the bowl of the food processor. Nothing even close to smooth and silky. But you know, it really tasted great and it looked pretty good too! Enen made a 4 in size tart with the extra dough.
What a lovely, elegant tart. I was a little worried because at first my crust didn’t cohere, and then I wondered if I had packed it down too roughly and perhaps it would lose its crumbly texture. No need to worry. The tart was delicious. I’ve loved this cookbook ever since it came out, but this was my first official Tuesdays with Dorie challenge. Thanks so much for suggesting (and creating) such a great recipe!
Hey all,
I don’t have a tart pan, couldn’t find one in our city and just made a freeform tart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Worked great! So you can even make this without a pan! That said, cut the prebake time (or none at all), my tart is a little overbaked, but darn good anyway!
Mary,
I recalled reading something about glass pie pans on Rose Levy Beranbaum’s blog. She said she checked with the manufacturer of Pyrex, and they said it would be fine to take a pie pan out of the freezer straight to an oven rack. However, they were NOT OK with putting a freezer-temperature pan it onto a preheated baking stone or baking pan. (Much faster heat transfer that way.)
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/01/soggy_bottom_pie_crusts.html#comment-137507
I have read in several places that Pyrex (and other brands of tempered glass) are most sensitive to going from hot to cold, not cold to hot. I can confirm this! I once cracked a Pyrex coffee carafe at the place I worked by taking it off the heater where it had been left to go dry (it was very hot) and placing into onto the bottom of a cold, wet metal sink. Crack!
On the other hand, I’ve often placed refrigerator-temperature glass pie pans on preheated oven stones with no problem. I may even have done it with frozen ones occasionally, but after reading that the manufacturer doesn’t recommend it, now I will stop. I’ve had the same glass pie pan for 30 years now and I am quite attached to it!
I used an 11 inch pan I bought at Target, not Williams Sonoma, and forgot to double the recipe! It went in as is. Wish me luck!!!
I’m going to be late, but I sure as anythang aint gonna miss it! Watch out for me! :D
LOVED this challenge! So easy & so good!!!
Thanks, I did it in the glass, even though it is not Pyrex and I don’t know if it is tempered, and it did NOT break! Continuing on. :)
Really delicious! I did 1 1/2 recipes on both to cover my 11″ tart pan. You just don’t go looking for tart pans in Italy! I’d still be looking… anyway. I did have a little bit left over on both the filling and crust, but worth. It was gorgeous — mine just a tad over cooked thinking the center would be firm. I learned that the center will firm up some after it cools. Love it, and will absolutely repeat it. (Poached pears and all.)
I am making mine right now and so mine will be up tonight. I hate it that it didn’t make it for the moring rush hour but I’ve loved being a part of the fun and I know it will be a pleasure to servce with din din tonight.
Hoorey
AmyRuth
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As this is my first recipe with all of you I ‘m very excited. My tart is in the oven now and the smell from the kitchen is absolutely amazing!!!! I can’t wait to try it!!!
Thanks CB! At first I was thinking pictures & questions, but that didn’t pan out once I clicked, lol.
No cookbook in my mailbox yet. :(