Tarte Bourdaloue
A pastry case filled with almond cream and poached pear halves, baked for 40 minutes and glazed with apricot jam.
Photograph credit: Tarte Bourdaloue by traaf · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Storing and Planning Ahead
Keeps for 2 days in the fridge. Warm at 160°C / 320°F for 10 minutes.
How to Make Tarte Bourdaloue
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Rub the cold butter into the flour and icing sugar. Mix in the egg yolk and water, wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
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Heat the oven to 180°C / 355°F. Roll the pastry to fit a 23 cm tart tin, line with paper and beans and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans.
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Beat the soft butter with the caster sugar until pale. Beat in the ground almonds, eggs and rum.
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Spread the almond cream in the case. Pat the pears dry, slice each across, fan slightly and lay on top.
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Bake for 40 minutes until the filling is golden and firm.
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Warm the jam with a spoonful of water and brush over the hot tart.
A Few Pointers
- Pat the pears dry so they do not make the filling soggy.
- Blind bake the case so it stays crisp.
- Glaze the tart while it is hot.
Behind the Recipe
It looks like a pear tart and eats like an almond one, and it sits between a tarte aux poires and a frangipane. Poached pear halves are pressed into a soft almond cream, so the fruit stays juicy under a golden, nutty top, and the pastry underneath is crisp.
The almond cream is butter, sugar, ground almonds, eggs and a splash of rum or vanilla, beaten until smooth. Spread it into a blind-baked case, and it puffs around the pears as it bakes. Drain the pears and pat them dry before they go on top; wet fruit makes the filling sag in the middle. Tinned pear halves work well and save time, but poached fresh pears give a better flavour.
Slice each pear half across without cutting through the top, press it gently to fan it, and lay it cut side down on the cream. Bake until the almond cream is golden and firm, and brush with warmed apricot jam while hot for a glossy finish. The tart is best warm, with a spoonful of cream.
Good Alongside
Cream · Vanilla ice cream · Dessert wine
Questions About Tarte Bourdaloue
How long does Tarte Bourdaloue take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking, plus 20 minutes of chilling, so allow 1 hour 30 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Tarte Bourdaloue Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 1 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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